The Two Oceans Marathon is a 56 km / 35-mile ultramarathon and 21 km

half-marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcut ...

held annually in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, South Africa on the Saturday of the

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

weekend. Known globally as "the world's most beautiful marathon",Hamlett, Alison (2008-08-20)
20 Races to do before you die
''

Runner's World ''Runner's World'' is a globally circulated monthly magazine for runners of all skills sets, published by Hearst in Easton, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Before its acquisition by Hearst, it was founded and published by Rodale, Inc. in Em ...

''. Retrieved on 2011-04-29. the race is run against a backdrop of spectacular scenery through the

Cape Peninsula The Cape Peninsula ( af, Kaapse Skiereiland) is a generally mountainous peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean at the south-western extremity of the African continent. At the southern end of the peninsula are Cape Point and the Cape ...

. Both races start in

Newlands Newlands may refer to: Places Australia * Newlands, Queensland, a locality in the Whitsunday Region New Zealand * Newlands, Wellington, a suburb of Wellington South Africa * Newlands, Cape Town, a suburb of Cape Town * Newlands, Johannesbur ...

. The Ultra Marathon follows a more or less circular route through

Muizenberg Muizenberg ( , Dutch for "mice mountain") is a beach-side town in the Western Cape, South Africa. It is situated where the shore of the Cape Peninsula curves round to the east on the False Bay coast. It is considered to be the main surfing spo ...

Fish Hoek Fish Hoek ( af, Vishoek, meaning either Fish Corner or Fish Glen) is a coastal town at the eastern end of the Fish Hoek Valley on the False Bay side of the Cape Peninsula in the Western Cape, South Africa. Previously a separate municipality, Fish ...

, over

Chapman's Peak Chapman's Peak is a mountain on the western side of the Cape Peninsula, between Hout Bay and Noordhoek in Cape Town, South Africa. The western flank of the mountain falls sharply for hundreds of metres into the Atlantic Ocean, and a road, known ...

, through

Hout Bay Hout Bay ( af, Houtbaai, meaning "Wood Bay") is a harbour town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is situated in a valley on the Atlantic seaboard of the Cape Peninsula, twenty kilometres south of Cape Town. The name "Hout Bay" can ...

and

Constantia Nek Constantia Nek is a low pass over the Table Mountain range in Cape Town, South Africa, linking Constantia to Hout Bay in the west. It is one of three passes connecting Hout Bay to the rest of the city, and, with Ou Kaapse Weg is one of the two ...

, and eventually finishes at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

campus. On occasions when Chapman's Peak Drive has been closed due to construction or rock falls, the Ultra Marathon has followed an alternative route over

Ou Kaapse Weg Ou Kaapse Weg (Afrikaans for ''Old Cape Way''), numbered as route M64, is a mountain pass in the Cape Peninsula that connects the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town with the Fish Hoek Valley. It traverses the Steenberg mountains and passes throu ...

. The Half Marathon takes runners along Edinburgh Drive (the M3 highway), before turning into forest roads past

Kirstenbosch Kirstenbosch is an important botanical garden nestled at the eastern foot of Table Mountain in Cape Town. The garden is one of 10 National Botanical Gardens covering five of South Africa's six different biomes and administered by the South A ...

(where runners meet up with Ultra Marathon participants) and finishing at the

campus. Since its inaugural edition in 1970, the event has grown. Selling out every year, the Half Marathon sees some 16,000 participants (making it the biggest half marathon in South Africa), while 11,000 athletes tackle the 56 km Ultra Marathon. In addition to the main events, other events take place the day before ( Good Friday): *Approximately 6 000 runners - including toddlers and young children with their families - take part in various

fun run A fun run is a friendly race that involves either road running or cross country running with participants taking part for their own enjoyment rather than competition. A fun run will usually be held to raise funds for a charity, with sponsors pr ...

s *Approximately 1 000 trail runners traverse the trails of the

Table Mountain National Park Table Mountain National Park, previously known as the Cape Peninsula National Park, is a national park in Cape Town, South Africa, proclaimed on 29 May 1998, for the purpose of protecting the natural environment of the Table Mountain Chain, and ...

*International participants get to run a scenic 5 km route along the Sea Point promenade as part of the International Friendship Run The 2020 and 2021 editions of the race were cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

Winners

Men

Key:

Women

Key:

Halfmarathon

Key:

References

Two Oceans 56 km
ARRS. Retrieved on 2016-10-13.
Two Oceans 21 km
ARRS. Retrieved on 2016-10-13.

External links

Official web page
{{Cape Town, sports Ultramarathons Half marathons Recurring sporting events established in 1970 Marathons in South Africa Athletics competitions in South Africa Autumn events in South Africa