Capetonians are gearing up for the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon, held over the Easter weekend every year in Cape Town – a race considered one of the world’s most beautiful marathons in the world.  Participants can choose from various distances – the scenic 56km ultra marathon or popular 21km half marathon and the 5km or 2.5km fun runs. The event attracts close to 26 000 participants across all the distances and provides them with a mixture of breathtaking scenery, a gruelling test of fitness for both the elite and recreational runner, and an unrivalled race organisation and atmosphere.

While runners will be showcasing their athletic prowess, the run is also for a good cause. Thusfar, theUniversity of Cape Town (UCT) has received a R2 million financial contribution from Old Mutual to assist excelling students who are not eligible for the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) funding.

“We’ve had the charity entry where charities purchase tickets for the half or the ultra marathons and then people who buy those tickets from the charities can raise funds for the charities. We worked out that they will raise over R2 million this year,” said General Manager Carol Vosloo.

Vosloo says the race has four selected beneficiaries.

“We have four selected beneficiaries, which runners can donate money to when they enter. We have a dropdown box (on the website) where they can select who they’d like to donate their money to. We’ve raised over R300,000 for these beneficiaries.”

Participants consistently vote it as one of the best in South Africa and it continues to attract strong fields and an increasing number of international entrants. The event has become synonymous with the Easter Weekend in Cape Town, with the pre-race activities at the expo, family day, and fun runs on Easter Friday. En-route entertainment on the race day provides fun, excitement, and a unique experience to runners, family, friends, and spectators alike.

The Two Oceans, which is in its 47^th edition kicks off in Cape Town on Saturday.

The Voice of the Cape (VOC) will be having a water point for those runners desiring to quench their thirst.

The VOC water point will be located 40.2km race mark at Kronendal in Hout Bay. VOC’s OB team and volunteers will be out in full force with tables of refreshments.

Meanwhile, Capetonians are asked to heed all roadclosures:

Spectators: Please obey all officials and marshalls and be aware of traffic when supporting the runners. Do not stand in roadways where vehicles are travelling.

VOC