Runners ready for Cape Town Marathon
AN ESTIMATED 26 000 runners will descend on Cape Town this weekend to compete in Africa’s only IAAF Gold Label-status city marathon, the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon.
This year’s event, billed as the most ambitious as far as the elite-athlete contingent is concerned, will offer a larger, more exciting registration at the world-class Century City Conference Centre starting today at 9am.
The pinnacle of the weekend-long event, the 42.2km marathon will take place at 6.40am on Sunday in Granger Bay.
This will coincide with a 10km Peace Run, and follows other shorter running events tomorrow – the 22km and 12km Peace Trail Runs and a 5km Peace Run.
All runners are required to register at the expo, where goody bags will be handed out. Organisers are encouraging runners to register as early as possible.
Alongside the registration hall is a jam-packed exhibition featuring top sports, tourism and leisure brands offering a variety of special offers, promotions and select merchandise for purchase.
The expo at the conference centre will open today at 9am and close at 7pm, and run tomorrow between 9am and 5pm.
Outside, facing the expo hall, is Century City’s Natural Goods Market, with food and refreshment stalls, crafts and gifts, live music and loads of kids’ activities.
Meanwhile, the City says this year, the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon is going for platinum status.
As a sponsor of the event, the City welcomed organisers’ decision to apply for the platinum label, potentially increasing the status of the event.
“The City supports events that assist our administration in creating an enabling environment that attracts investment and generates economic growth and job creation opportunities for residents,” mayor Dan Plato said.
“With the breathtakingly beautiful Table Mountain as a backdrop and the iconic Cape Town City Hall on the route, runners have the most spectacular scenery while they look to achieve their personal bests.
“Good luck to all the athletes and we hope it is as exciting an event for the spectators cheering on the sidelines. We call on Capetonians to come out in support of their friends and family who will be participating,” Plato said.
E-hailing zones have been provided adjacent to the Century City Conference Centre.
Paid parking is available at Canal Walk Shopping Centre, a short walk from the Century City Conference Centre, additional parking is available at P1 (near the entrance to the Conference Centre), P2 (behind the Conference Centre) and P3 (next to Virgin Active). Additional parking is available at Century Way Parking (near the entrance to Century City in Century Way Street).
The MyCiTi bus service provides a link from the Century City railway station to a number of conveniently located stops along the Century Boulevard ring road, and from there, a route via the West Coast line to the CBD. Transport between the CBD and Cape Town International Airport is also provided by the bus service.
For trains, the Century City stop is on the Cape Town-Bellville line via Monte Vista.
For more information regarding the marathon’s weekend festival of running, visit www.capetownmarathon.com.