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Bay 2 Bay 30 and 15
A Cape Town classic. Enjoy the best views on this awsome route. This is also where the Two Oceans and Comrades preparation starts in earnest. CMC gazebo waiting at the end.
Red Hill Classic and marathon
A must run for all. One of Cape Towns best marathons. A unique geature is the upgrade/downgrade table at +- 21km where you can change from the 42 to 36 or, vice versa.
Milkwood half
People aften ask which smaller, less congested half marathons are worth running. You don't have to look further than the Milkwoord. Yes its a long drive, but you will be rewarded with the best scenert Cape Town can offer.
Peninsula
The go-to TOM qualifier for many people. Known to be potentially a PB race, but pray the South Easter plays allong. You will not get a flatter marathon in South Africa. CMC gazebo waiting at the end.
Dan Luyt
Support the Bellville club's local race.
A Cape Town classic. Enjoy the best views on this awsome route. This is also where the Two Oceans and Comrades preparation starts in earnest. CMC gazebo waiting at the end.
Online entries close 24 Apr
Today, I finally ran the FB50—a long-time personal bucket list race. It didn't disappoint; in fact, it might be one of the best long-distance races in Cape Town.
A respectable group of 28 CMC runners braved the challenging logistics to reach the start at 6:30 AM in Kleinmond. The chilly temperatures reminded us that winter is here, but the cold start in the dark made for perfect running conditions on what can only be described as a perfect autumn day. With no wind and a perfectly flat sea, it was stated that while this race might not have two oceans, it is twice as beautiful as the other Ultra.
The route profile was just challenging enough to make you really work for your result, with a few long climbs, especially between 38 and 40 km. The last 5 km gave a new meaning to the term "undulating."
CMC runners performed exceptionally well with some great results:
Barry Bester took first place in his age category.
Nicole de Waal came 5th in the Open Category.
Joele Mira finished 8th in his age category and 31st overall.
A unique feature of today's race was the unusually high number of fallers, where the evil cat eyes and coarse tarmac left many runners with bloodied hands and knees.
Every marathon runner should mark this race on their calendar—it's well worth it
Rhodes (Safari) is an old favorite among all Cape runners. The beautiful route and iconic chant of "hou bene hou" make us forgive them for giving us fruit juice instead of Coke.
The race often dishes up interesting weather, and this year threatened to be wet, but apart from a hard shower just after the race started, conditions were near perfect.
We had a great field and good fun at the gazebo.
Some interesting points:
Jenny missed the poidium by one position with a great 4th place in her age cat.
Nelius Swart came 6th in his age cat
Stephan Burger ran an amazing 1h24
Jan Oliver and Rouxne Maass did the double and ran both 21 and 10k races.
Many runners found the Ultra challenging due to the heat, congestion, and inadequate water stations. A record number of our runners missed various cut-offs, so to those who struggled, be kind to yourself, and to those who had a great run, feel extra proud.
Although conditions were also challenging, we had some very impressive results:
- 44 ran their PB (since my stats started in 2022), including the 21 who ran their first Ultra.
- Of the 78 finishers, 17 received Sainsbury medals. This is really impressive.
- 17 runners received Bronze.
- 44 received Blue.
- First lady runner, Jenny Close was our 3rd finisher!
- Elmarie Coetzee was 1st in her age category.
Always risky to mention individuals, but I have to call out Herman Bonechans and Erik Williamson. Both did the Iron Man the week before TOM and Herman still mangd to run a Sainsbury, with Erik missing his by only a handful of minutes.
Well done to Jared Godwin and Leon van Niekerk, who received their blue numbers in the Ultra.
TOM 56k results can be found here.
Photos of the Ultra can be foudn here.
TOM 21 turned out to be a day to remember. Late route changes, heat, and total confusion reigned, but nothing surprises us about Two Oceans anymore. We had a record field of runners, and they will all have something to remember.
Some notable facts:
- Kevin & Monica Hitge, Marco Prinsloo, and Pieter Carstens received their blue numbers.
- Based on my stats starting in 2022, 31 of the 74 runners ran a PB, and 13 of them were first-time runners.
You can find all the photos of the half here:
The results for the half are here.
Bay to Bay 2025 was the 3rd year in a row that we had near perfect weather, and the record number of CMC runners made the most of it.
Congratulations to Elmarie Coetzee for on her brilliant first-place in her age category - we're starting to expect to see her on top of the podium in every race! Pity she needed a stand -in today for the presentation........
Click here to see many more image
Cape Town Marathon 2024 was as big, exciting, and hard as ever. The early prediction of rain faded, and we had to endure the familiar early summer South Easter, which added a bit of spice to the marathon – as well as caused havoc with the water cups.
CMC had a huge field of runners, with more than 100 members entering the 42km and 10km events, and a total of 82 completed the marathon.
I'd like to congratulate everyone who participated. Remember, marathons are designed to be tough. Special congratulations to the first-time marathon runners – your life will never be the same again.
I understand we have a mix of war stories and personal bests among the group. No matter how your race turned out, I hope you'll have fond memories.
There were many specail acievements, but hats off to Nardus and Werner on their sub 3hr performances. Malcolm, it was soooo close. Speaking about close, Jenny Close was not only the first woman (as usual), but she set her own marathon PB below 3h10!
Thanks to all of you who came to the gazebo; it's always nice to see members engaging socially.
Special thanks to the running sub-committee who volunteered to assist with hosting: Jan, Lou, Marilette, Mark, and Reinette (listed in alphabetical order, as you were all awesome!).
Click here to see many more pictures
CMC turned up in numbers for an incredible Gun Run. Hope you all enjoyed the experience.
Many people ran PBs, the conditions were clearly perfect - despite the challenging seeding situation.
Congratulation to all who took part - some performances that needs to be mentioned:
In the 10kM, Elmarie Coetzee came FIRST in he age cat with a stunning time of 42'39.
Nardus Matthysen was the first CMC runner in an amazing time of 1h22, 65th in his category.
Jenny Close not only came 4th in the 10KM with a 42'29 and she then followed that with 1h32:39 in the 21km!
Peet van Eden finished in a very respectable 20th place in his category.
Bastille Day is not your run of the mill trail run. Expect it to be brutal with vert for the hurt. The 35km boasts with over 1700m of vert while the 50km exceeds 3000m of climbing. It is not a sprint. Burning your legs on the climbs means you have nothing left on the downhills, which resulted in many a forced march on the downhills and flats for some.
This race is not for the fainthearted, but we do it for the breathtaking views of the Franschhoek mountains, winding Berg river and a bird's eye view of Franschhoek on the one side, and the Berg river dam on the other. 100% adventure. 100% brutal.
Congratulations to Malcolm and Nelius Swart who came 5th and 6th overall in the 50 and 35km races. These are truley remarkable achievements.
Our Tekkie Challenge had another first this year with the first ever Tekkie Marshal's run taking place on Sun, 1 Sep. We were joined by the runners from Kuilsriver Runners who marshalled the Tekkie 5k race and we rounded the day of with a nice breakfast. Many thanks to our loyal supporters who marshalled the Marshal's run!
Blouberg Marathon has quickly grown to become one of the major Cape Town marathons. It is the first opportunity to qualify for Comrades and offers a flat, potentially fast route. However, being relatively early in the season, it’s prone to some nasty Cape weather, and 2024 was no exception.
Due to the interest in the race, the marathon, half-marathon, and 10k races were split across Saturday and Sunday. It was the marathon runners who had to face a fierce cold front with strong winds and driving rain.
To make matters worse, the City insisted that the races had to start in batches. Limited knowledge of the batch process, along with some uncertainty regarding the timing, resulted in some confusion.
Many people struggled in the conditions, but the small group of CMC runners still managed to deliver some great results:
Nardus Matthysen came second overall in the 10k and first in his age category with a time of 38:18. Unfortunately, he did not realize that runners had to opt-in to be considered as contenders and was therefore not eligible for a podium award—this is an often-overlooked rule and something our fast runners should remember in the future.
Schalk Viljoen came 4th in his age category with a brilliant 1:23:40 in the 21k.
Herman Bonechanse achieved a respectable 7th place in his age category with his 3:18 marathon.
It's often risky to single out one individual's performance, as there may be many notable achievements that I'm not aware of. However, I must mention Will Boltmann's incredible performance. He has been working towards breaking the coveted 2-hour barrier for some time now, and he achieved it in impressive style by smashing a personal best of 1:53:07. This is truly remarkable and well-deserved.
Big shout-out to all!
Nardus on his way to his second place in the 10k
The Brackenfell half marathon is one of our "home" runs in the Northern suburbs, and organised by one of the baTTle of the North clubs, It was therefore encouraging to see so many CMC runners braving early rainy conditions, but fortunately the predictions were accurate and the race was dry. Perfect conditions, coupled with great organisation made for an enjoyable race.
Our 2024 Comrades results are really remarkable. Here are some of the amazing statistics:
100% success rate - we had 40 runners who started, and all 40 finished before the cut-off.
9 PBs - with special recognition to Jan Ellis who improved his time with a whopping 59 minutes.
13 first time runners
3 Silver medals - not only Wunderkid Werner, but also 2 first time runners - Mad Max Malcolm and Jetstream Jenny.
8 Bill Rowan medals - and it included 4 first timers, Redline Reon, JP Botha and the two Van der Berg sisters, who incidentally entered on the last day of subs!!
1 minute 13 seconds - how close Malcolm came to his predicted time. We ran a small competition at the send-off where runners were asked to predict their finish times. Malcolm's prediction was only a remarkable 1 minute 13 seconds off. This was followed by Reon who predicted to be 30 minutes behind Malcolm, and he came in 31 minutes later. Really outstanding execution for two novices (Did I just call Reon and Malcolm novices?)
55 minutes - on the other end of the scale, JP Botha ran nearly an hour faster than his prediction. Really brave for a first time runner!!!
17 minutes The average prediction accuracy of the all experienced runners.
I can tell stories about every runner - it was such a remarkable and inspirational journey.
I really hope that we will have 60 runners in 2025, 80 in 2026, and let's aim for a 100+ for the 2027 Comrades 100th run.
This is a little gem of a half marathon. Rich in culture, a truly unique Cape Town classic.
Starting on the Grand Parade it ventures out towards District 6, then past the Parliament, offering a couple of gentle climbs to ease you into the real business part of the race, Bo-Kaap, where Koesister hill awaits. After triumphing the near impossible climb with the help of a couple of the local delicacies, you're left with a challenging last 9km around Green Point and Stadium precinct, flat enough to really nail down the tempting negative split.
I will be back, this is a must run race for every Capetonian, and a big shout out to the organisers that delivered a fantastic event.
CMC had a fantastic day on the road this weekend with many personal achievements.
We had 75 runners (45 Male, 30 Female ) who started running the Two Oceans Ultra on Sat 13 April in near perfect conditions. The wind was a but gusty, but it provided a great push from behind on the dreaded section between Fish Hoek and Noordhoek.
Special congratulations to our first placed Runner Malcolm Isaacs on his silver medal, and first lady Jenny Close on her Sainsbury.
Our club total of 1 Silver and 17 Sainsbury medals is something to be really proud of.
We had 47 21k finishers this morning - 3 of them, Chrisna, Franci and Edmund, doing the 56 and 21 double. Really remarkable, especially for Edmund who ran a sub 4h yesterday.
Congratulations to Pieter Carstens and Berlize du Plessis who where our top male and female finishers. I also need to call out Marius van Rensburg for his brilliant 2h03 in the 70+ category, just missing out on a podium!