Cape Town 2026 finishers will receive provisional star

Abbott World Marathon Majors can confirm that all finishers of the 2026 Sanlam Cape Town Marathon will receive a provisional AbbottWMM star.‍

This year, the race was pursuing its second consecutive pass of the AbbottWMM criteria that must be met in order for Cape Town to join the series. The cancellation of the 2025 event means that the evaluation was not completed.

We fully support the decision that was made to cancel the 2025 event in the interests of the safety of runners, volunteers and staff.

We also applaud the decision by Cape Town’s title sponsor Sanlam in offering to fund 2026 or 2027 entries for all 2025 marathon entrants.

As a further show of our support, AbbottWMM believes it is the right step to award provisional stars to all 2026 finishers. These stars will be fully recognized if Cape Town achieves its second evaluation pass in 2026.

AbbottWMM CEO Dawna Stone said: “I would like to thank race director Clark Gardner and his team for their swift and brave actions under extreme pressure. I am also grateful to their sponsor, Sanlam, for standing by their runners.

“We look forward to being back in Cape Town in May next year to see both the runners, and the race, get over that finish line.”

Clark Gardner, CEO of Faces, organizers of the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, said:
“We are ecstatic that, should we pass stage two in 2026, all Sanlam Cape Town Marathon finishers will receive an Abbott World Marathon Majors star. It’s a significant step toward becoming Africa’s first Major, and we can’t wait to celebrate that collective victory with our incredible running community who’ve backed us every step of the way.

“Ballot entries open on November 6 for the 2026 race on May 24, and we look forward to welcoming runners back to Cape Town for what promises to be a historic occasion for the African continent.”

The 2026 event will also host the AbbottWMM Marathon Tours & Travel Age Group World Championships. Finishers in this event will also receive a provisional star which will be fully recognized if Cape Town passes its 2026 evaluation.