Saved by the bus - Cape Town Marathons 2026

Somewhere in Woodstock about 17 miles into the 26, with the city finally in sight, my Sunday marathon had quietly fallen apart. The energy was gone. I’d been walking more than running for miles, watching the pace bleed away mile by mile. I didn’t really mind — this was the second leg of a back-to-back and the clock was never the point — but I’d resigned myself to a long, slow shuffle to the line.

Then I heard it. From behind me, faint and rhythmic: tsk-tsk…tsk, tsk-tsk…tsk.

A bus was coming.

To explain why that sound rescued my race — and why I’d happily fly back to Cape Town just to hear it again — I need to start with a clerical error.

The accidental double

In 2024 I was in town with Cally for a friend’s wedding. When I realised the trip coincided with the Cape Town Marathon, two opportunities presented themselves: run the race, and add another package to my tally with SportsTours.

Tom and I have used SportsTours for years — guaranteed entry plus accommodation is a handy way to cut out the faff of the majors and other big city marathons. The longer game was an elusive Boston spot, which they release in small numbers to regular customers. A Cape Town package also meant a hotel weekend with Cally in our former home city. Easy decision.

A few weeks before the trip, SportsTours called to check which marathon I was running — road or trail? I didn’t know there was a choice. I confirmed the road. Shortly after, an email landed from the trail organisers confirming my place in the trail marathon. Curious.

A bit of homework revealed the two events run under the same banner, starting and finishing from the same spot. And 2024 had been a big year — a 100-miler, four 50-milers, two 50ks, plus Tokyo and Lisbon, the latter only a few weeks earlier. I was in decent trail shape. If the body felt up to it, why not have a go?

It wasn’t until I had both numbers in hand at registration that I knew it was truly on. The clerical error had left me with both places.

If anything, it took the pressure off. This would be slow and steady by necessity. I’d run on Table Mountain before and knew to leave something in the tank for Sunday.

Saturday was tough — really tough. 6,900ft of climbing on brutally technical terrain. I took a tumble on the Newlands Forest contour path but came away with nothing worse than bloody knees. It was a beautiful day, a joy to be out, and I got it done in 7hr 26min (136/232). [results]

Sunday came around and the body felt OK. It was on. Slow and steady again. The pace dropped off after 16 miles and the energy was low, but the legs kept turning and I was happy with 4:49.

My first ever back-to-back at marathon distance — and I was genuinely pleased with how well I recovered and just got it done.

Roll on 2026…

Why come back

This time Tom and I were in it for the road marathon, chasing the Abbott World Marathon Majors. We had our six original stars in the bag — London, New York, Chicago, Boston, Berlin, Tokyo — and Cape Town, a candidate city, looked likely to be inducted as a new star in 2026.

Tom & I before the Sunday start

But I couldn’t pass up the mountain. Running there is one of my great joys — I’ve written about it here — and it’s where I faced probably my biggest challenge ever at the 2023 UTCT 100km. I know of no other road/trail double set up quite like this. I just had to have another go.

Saturday: the mountain

Saturday broke misty and cool. Mercifully the weekend stayed mild, with no sign of the catastrophic storms that had torn through two weeks earlier. I geared up and left the hotel just after 5am for the 20-minute walk to the start. The Abbott candidacy had lifted the whole event — a more structured start area, more support staff on show.

I’d luckily picked up on the head-torch requirement: 6:30am in May is dark, with sunrise not until 7:30. The start went off smoothly and on time, runners geed up by some rousing tunes, and the route took us straight up through the upper roads of Sea Point onto the trail towards Lion’s Head.

It was all business from the gun. The plan was simply to find a rhythm. The mist thinned as we climbed above it up the side of Signal Hill, the mountains opening up ahead as pre-dawn light crept into the sky. Above the clouds, a trail of head torches snaking up the hill, dawn breaking in the distance — surreal and beautiful. These are the moments I come back for.

From the high point on Lion’s Head we dropped to Kloof Nek and the first water station, then back up the gnarly climb to Kloof Corner and the start of the contour path. Five miles in and already 2,000ft of climbing — a tough start. The ‘contour’ across the face of Table Mountain is treacherous underfoot and slow, soon tipping into another long climb to the Newlands Ravine saddle.

The zig-zag plunge down Newlands Ravine was so slippery it became the slowest mile of the whole day. My calves, quads and hamstrings had started doing something strange — an almost-cramp, seizing then releasing — and it hung around for ages despite staying on top of fluids and electrolytes.

It was a relief to reach the contour across to Kirstenbosch, sunny breaks revealing beautiful views through the forest across the Southern Suburbs. Brent and Lucy were waiting at the Kirstenbosch aid station — always great to see them.

The rest was head-down and keep chugging. Conditions were perfect, the body mostly held, and I enjoyed the return across Devil’s Peak, Gardens and Signal Hill. There were the usual brutal, seemingly pointless ups and downs — but it wouldn’t be CT running without them.

I brought it in around 40 minutes slower than 2024 at 8hr 4min, and was happy to get it done. Ryan Sands was at the finish again to see us in — kudos to him for not just lending his name to the event but for sticking around for the slow coaches. Tom was there too, and we headed off for a beer at Ferryman’s Tavern, now a firm post-run tradition.

Sunday: the bus

Here we go again. The body was in good shape, even if Garmin reckoned I’d slept terribly — no surprise there. Legs stiff but moving. This one was all about energy.

The start waves were brilliantly coordinated, and the mix of tunes and Nkosi Sikelel’ got the juices flowing. I was off at 8:40, happy to be moving, looking for a slow, steady pace to hang on to.

It was smooth until about eight miles in. Then the energy just started draining away. Eight miles is no distance at all, and it was shaping up to be a very long slog. I saw Brent and Lucy around mile 10 as things kept slipping, mile by mile. I was disappointed but at peace with it — it was a double, the time didn’t matter. I walked more and more.

And then, approaching town through Woodstock, the miraculous happened.

That sound from behind: tsk-tsk…tsk, tsk-tsk…tsk. A bus was coming.

All the majors have pacers — runners with flags on their backs holding a set pace for a target time: 3hr, 4hr, 4:30. In South Africa it’s so much more. The pacers are ‘bus drivers’, usually with a second-in-command (conductor), and together they don’t just set a pace — they drive a vibe, a whole experience. These are characters, with whistles and signals and well-drilled routines for stopping at aid stations, for walking breaks, for ‘winding the windows down’ to tighten the formation through narrow sections. It’s magical.

I’d been caught by a 4:45 bus — just about a pace I could cling to. For the next eight miles I was flowing, legs turning, the energy suddenly back to sustain a pace I’d lost completely miles earlier. It was an experience I’d long hoped to have. In 2024 I’d caught a 4:30 bus around mile 12 and hung on for a couple of miles before dropping off — just enough of a taste to know I wanted the full thing.

I found a clip combining two buses from two different races that captures it pretty well:
The bus experience -> Instagram reel.
I’ve been lucky enough to run marathons all over the world, but this — this was something else, and uniquely South African.

I’d come back to Cape Town just to run with a bus, and I think one day I will. The buses at Comrades are the stuff of legend — perhaps that’ll be my next one. It’s on ‘the list’.

Saturday trail marathon – Strava 8:04:09 (official results , forgot to stop my watch!!) 147/182 loads of DNS this year.
Sunday road marathon – Strava 4:56:40 (official results)