Ethiopian athletes steal the show at Cape Town Marathon

Huseyidin Mohamed Esa won the men’s race in a course record 2:04:55 and Dera Dida Yami secured the women’s title in 2:23:18.

As expected, a powerful foreign contingent led the charge on Sunday, dominating the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon.

With a handful of elite SA athletes withdrawing ahead of the race due to injury, international visitors were the main protagonists in the men’s contest.

Delivering a spectacular performance in ideal conditions, Huseyidin Mohamed Esa of Ethiopia wound up the pace with relentless surges in the closing stages to win the race in 2:04:55, achieving the fastest 42km time ever run on African soil.

His compatriot, Yihunilign Adane, took second place in 2:04:59, and Kenyan athlete Kalipus Lomwai was third in 2:05:06.

With the top 10 men running under the previous course record (2:08:16) no South Africans featured at the front of the field.

Experienced veteran Stephen Mokoka, a three-time winner of the race, was the first SA competitor to finish, with the 41-year-old athlete taking 13th place in 2:10:48 to chop nearly five minutes off his own national record for athletes over the age of 40.

Kenyan legend Eliud Kipchoge, a former world record holder and two-time Olympic champion, ended 16th in 2:13:29.

Other results

In the women’s race, Ethiopia’s Dera Dida Yami triumphed in 2:23:18, less than a minute outside the course record of 2:22:22 set by local star Glenrose Xaba in 2024.

Mestawut Fikir took the runner-up spot in 2:23:46 and Waganesh Amare finished third in 2:23:57, with Ethiopian athletes sweeping the podium.

“Around 36km I was really confident I was going to win the race,” Yami said.

“My aim was to break the course record but today was not my day to break it. Next time with good preparation I will come back and I will do it.”

In the wheelchair races, British athlete David Weir, a former Paralympic marathon champion, won the title in 1:30:20, and Manuela Schar of Switzerland, a former world marathon champion, took the women’s event in 1:43:25.

On Saturday, local athletes dominated the 10km Peace Run, with South African record holder Maxime Chaumeton securing victory in the men’s event in 27:42, and Tayla Kavanagh setting a personal best of 31:26 in the women’s event, crossing the line just 14 seconds outside the national record (31:12) held by Xaba and climbing to third place in the all-time SA rankings.