MOHAMED ESA BREAKS CAPE TOWN MARATHON COURSE RECORD

Mohamed Esa ran 2:04:55 to win the men's race and break the course record, leading an Ethiopian sweep of the podium in his first marathon victory.

Esa held off compatriot Yihunilign Adane, who finished four seconds back in 2:04:59. Kalipus Lomwai of Kenya took third in 2:05:06. The winning time lowered the men's course record of 2:08:15, set by Abdisa Tola in 2024, by more than three minutes.

The result came on a reconfigured calendar. The race moved from its usual October date to May this year as part of its bid to join the Abbott World Marathon Majors, a step that would make it the first African race in the series.

Women's race

Dera Dida won the women's race in 2:23:18, completing an Ethiopian sweep of both fields. She finished 27 seconds ahead of Mestawut Fikir, who ran 2:23:46, with Waganesh Amare third in 2:23:57.

Dida controlled the closing kilometers after the lead pack stayed grouped through the first half. Her margin held to the line.

Kipchoge and the wheelchair races

Eliud Kipchoge ran 2:13:29 to finish 16th in the men's field. The two-time Olympic marathon champion has said he plans to run a marathon on each of the seven continents, and the Cape Town race was part of that schedule. The event's rise from a local club race to a championship-level marathon is traced in our history of the Cape Town Marathon.

In the wheelchair races, David Weir set a course record of 1:30:20 and Manuela Schär won the women's wheelchair race in 1:43:25.

A move into the Abbott World Marathon Majors would give the series its first race on the African continent, with the next edition set for May 2027.