The World Marathon Majors (WMM) organisation has stood up in support of Cape Town Marathon organisers after the race was cancelled earlier this month due to adverse weather conditions.
While the WMM organisation was expected to award the Cape Town race top-flight status, following a second successive evaluation, it could not do so after the event was scratched shortly before the start with strong winds blowing through the Mother City.
The decision to call off the popular annual 42km race was made for safety reasons (though many runners took to the streets anyway) and because of damage to structures at the finish venue in Greenpoint.
However, in a statement released on Tuesday night, WMM announced that the race would have an opportunity to be evaluated again at the 2026 edition, confirming it was still considering including the event in the top-flight global series.
“We fully support the decision that was made to cancel the 2025 event in the interests of the safety of runners, volunteers and staff,” the WMM organisation said.
World Marathon Majors also confirmed that runners who had entered the Cape Town Marathon would be given a provisional WMM star.
These stars were awarded to runners who participated in WMM races, with those who received stars at all WMM events receiving a special medal.
“Abbott WMM believes it is the right step to award provisional stars to all 2026 finishers. These stars will be fully recognised if Cape Town achieves its second evaluation pass in 2026.”
This decision followed an announcement by headline sponsor Sanlam which had previously confirmed all entrants for this year’s race would receive free entry for either the 2026 or 2027 editions.
* Featured image of runners at the 2024 Cape Town Marathon by Chris Hitchcock
