THE RISING TIDE
From
When 24 runners lined up on a cold , wet morning in 1970 for the first running of the Celtic 35 Mile Road Race , who could have imagined that five decades later , the race would attract a sold-out field of 13,000 entries , with a huge demand for still more entries ? Not even visionary race founder Dave Venter would have believed that , since no races in South Africa had anything close to that many entries in those days . However , the combination of the beautiful route , position on the calendar , allure of a long weekend in Cape Town , excellent organisation and the physical challenge of the distance have all contributed to the growth of the race .
In 1975 entries passed 200 for the first time . Numbers were close to 500 by 1977 , the first year that only preentries were accepted , and exceeded the 1000 mark for the first time in 1979 . The race shot past 2000 entries in 1982 , was close to 4000 by 1984 , and in 1986 attracted over 5000 runners . By 1989 entries were topping 8000 , and two years later hit a record high of 9227 .
That remained the highest tally for the next 12 editions of the event , although the 2000 ‘ Millennium Edition ’ did come close with 9205 entries . The record was broken again in 2004 , with 9769 runners wanting to be part of the Two Oceans Marathon returning to the original route over Chapman ’ s Peak Drive after four years on the so-called ‘ Detour Route ’ over Ou Kaapse Weg , while Chappies was being reconstructed . After that , entries fluctuated , but by 2012 entries were back in the 9000 bracket , and then in 2013 a new record was set as the race sold out all 11,000 Ultra Marathon entries .
Since then , selling out has become the norm most years , with the 2017 event sold out in a record six weeks . An even bigger surprise awaited ahead of the 2018 race , when entries opened at the beginning of November 2017 and sold out in just two days , but even then the Two Oceans Marathon was not done . For the 2019 edition , the maximum number of entries was increased to 13,000
In 2019 , the Two Oceans Marathon exceeded 13,000 entries ! humble beginnings , the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon has grown into one of the world ’ s leading ultra-marathons , prompting the organisers to add a half marathon and increase the number of entries allowed . While entries are still ‘ recovering ’ following the COVID pandemic , the numbers in 2023 showed a healthy increase from 2022 , continuing the rich history of the ‘ World ’ s Most Beautiful Marathon .’ – BY SEAN FALCONER
By the late 1970s the race had grown to over 1000 entrants .
following negotiations with the City of Cape Town . Entries for those with a Blue number ( 10 or more medals ) or Yellow number ( nine medals ) opened on 8 November 2018 , followed by general entries on 13 November , and the sold out sign went up in less than six hours !
Making it a Family Event
As the popularity of the Ultra Marathon increased dramatically in the 1990 ’ s , so the number of family and friends accompanying Ultra Marathon runners to Cape Town climbed . That led to many calls for a shorter race option to be added to the event , so that these supporters could also be part of the running action , and the Two Oceans Marathon magic . With moving the finish to a bigger venue at UCT in 1998 , it finally became possible to add a Half Marathon to the programme , with fun runs and trail runs also being added .
The Half Marathon has grown into one of the biggest 21.1km races in the country , with the sold out sign for its 16,000 entries going up early most years since 2012 . Notable stats from the Half are that close to 50 % of the field travel from outside the Western Cape province , while the number of women participating in the Half has steadily climbed to 55 %. In fact , since 2012 there have been more women in the field than men . Meanwhile , the number of unregistered non-club members who require a temporary licence , reached an all-time high of 65 % in 2012 , showing that the event has brought many new people into the sport .
A new race set-up requested by the City in 2022 saw the Ultra and Half Marathon take place on different days for the first time , with the Half on the Saturday and the Ultra on the Sunday of the Easter weekend . That order was reversed in 2023 , with the Ultra taking place first , and for the first time since the race moved to Easter in 1973 , the race did not take place on Easter weekend . It remains to be seen whether this move away from Easter will continue in 2024 .
Healthy Growth Surge
A year-on-year look at the entry numbers in the Two Ocean Marathon show clearly how the Running Boom in the 1970 ’ s helped to grow the Ultra Marathon quickly in its first decade . The years marked in bold in the table below all denote a year with a new record number of entries .
Year Ultra Entries Half Entries
1970 |
26 |
--- |
1971 |
50 |
--- |
1972 |
115 |
--- |
1973 |
93 |
--- |
1974 |
166 |
--- |
1975 |
212 |
--- |
1976 |
365 |
--- |
1977 |
485 |
--- |
1978 |
771 |
--- |
1979 |
1229 |
--- |
1980 |
1594 |
--- |
1981 |
1900 |
--- |
1982 |
2411 |
--- |
1983 |
2875 |
--- |
1984 |
3771 |
--- |
1985 |
4670 |
--- |
1986 |
5469 |
--- |
1987 |
6182 |
--- |
1988 |
6970 |
--- |
1989 |
8168 |
--- |
1990 |
8509 |
--- |
1991 |
9227 |
--- |
1992 |
8701 |
--- |
1993 |
8246 |
--- |
1994 |
8154 |
--- |
1995 |
7150 |
--- |
1996 |
8202 |
--- |
1997 |
7770 |
--- |
1998 |
8311 |
3593 |
1999 |
8049 |
3596 |
2000 |
9205 |
4195 |
2001 |
7792 |
4883 |
2002 |
7243 |
5322 |
2003 |
7115 |
7304 |
2004 |
9769 |
8361 |
2005 |
7751 |
7868 |
2006 |
7875 |
9669 |
2007 |
7656 |
10,757 |
2008 |
6564 |
11,450 |
2009 |
6806 |
13,161 |
2010 |
8826 |
11,647 |
2011 |
8635 |
14,096 |
2012 |
9164 |
16,000 * |
2013 |
11,000 * |
16,000 * |
2014 |
11,000 * |
16,000 * |
2015 |
11,000 * |
16,000 * |
2016 |
11,000 * |
16,000 * |
2017 |
11,000 * |
16,000 * |
2018 |
11,000 * |
16,000 * |
2019 |
13,938 |
17,339 |
2022 |
4690 ** |
11,142 ** |
2023 |
9811 |
16,749 |
* Entry Limit ** COVID restrictions limited entries
TWO OCEANS 19 2023 SPECIAL SECTION