Eliud Kipchoge to run 2026 Cape Town Marathon

Eliud Kipchoge is set to run the 2026 Sanlam Cape Town Marathon on Sunday, May 24, in what organizers and Olympics.com described as his first official marathon on African soil. The Kenyan, a double Olympic marathon champion and former world-record holder, will make Cape Town the opening stop of “Eliud’s World Tour,” a seven-marathon plan across seven continents. Organizers said the race is expected to draw 27,000 marathon runners, with international participation from 145 countries. The event comes as Cape Town continues its push to strengthen its standing on the global road-running calendar. ### Why is Cape Town being framed as a first for Kipchoge? Olympics.com said Cape Town will be Kipchoge’s first official marathon race in Africa, a notable detail for an athlete whose major marathon victories came in cities including Berlin, London, Chicago and Tokyo. Organizers repeated that point in race-week material published ahead of Sunday’s event. (olympics.com) Kipchoge said in the organizers’ announcement that racing his “first ever marathon on the African continent” carried “deep meaning” for him. Olympics.com also linked the Cape Town entry to the start of his multi-continent tour, which it said is planned over the next several years. ### How strong is the field around him? SuperSport said the 2026 elite field includes 13 men and eight women who have run faster than the current Sanlam Cape Town Marathon course records. (olympics.com) It described the lineup as one that could make this year’s edition the fastest in the event’s history. (capetownmarathon.com) SuperSport had reported in March that the race assembled its deepest and fastest elite field in the event’s 15-year history, with Kipchoge as the headline entrant. Organizers said wheelchair athletes are also part of what they called the strongest combined elite field assembled for an African marathon. (supersport.com) ### How big is the race expected to be? Cape Town Marathon organizers said 27,000 runners will line up for the marathon itself in 2026. A separate 17,500 participants are expected across the 10 km and 5 km Peace Runs and the trail events held on Saturday, May 23. The organizers’ race-week release said 8,500 of the marathon entrants are international participants from 145 countries. (supersport.com) It said the largest overseas contingents come from the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany. ### What else is at stake for Cape Town? Cape Town Marathon organizers said the race is a candidate for Abbott World Marathon Majors status. (capetownmarathon.com) In race-week material, they described the event as Africa’s premier marathon and tied this year’s field depth and participation numbers to that bid. (capetownmarathon.com) Olympics.com said Cape Town is the first stop on Kipchoge’s seven-continent schedule, and a separate Olympics.com report published in March listed Porto Alegre on July 12 as the second stop. That gives the Cape Town race added visibility beyond the one-day result. ### What happens on race weekend? (capetownmarathon.com) The Sanlam Cape Town Marathon website lists the marathon for Sunday, May 24, with the wheelchair start at 7:50 a.m., the elite women’s and men’s race at 8:00 a.m., and the AbbottWMM MTT Age Group World Championships at 8:05 a.m. The site also shows Saturday events including the 10 km Peace Run. Olympics.com said viewers can find live coverage details through its event page, while the race website lists official broadcast information alongside leaderboards and results pages for the weekend program. (olympics.com) Kipchoge’s next scheduled stop after Cape Town is the Porto Alegre Marathon on July 12, according to Olympics.com. (capetownmarathon.com)