Cape Town Trail Marathon – Saturday 23rd May 2026
A Mountain Marathon in the Mother City
Race Report by Charlotte Briggs
As a serving member of the Royal Navy, I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity to travel regularly. The RN Athletics team has not had an overseas tour for over a decade however, so when I heard they were organising a trip to Cape Town, South Africa, I jumped at the chance to go. After much deliberation over which event to enter, I eventually opted for the Trail Marathon. I’ve never run a marathon before, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity.
The Cape Town Trail Marathon is part of the festival weekend of running at the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon. Saturday’s programme included the three trail runs (11km, 22km and 43km) as well as the 10km and 5km Peace Runs on the road, with the road marathon taking place on Sunday. The Trail Marathon course was designed by legendary South African trail runner Ryan Sandes and first run in 2021, originally covering 44km but then slightly shortened in 2024 to 43km.
As a marathon newbie, I had planned to start training in January and build up the miles slowly. After a tentative start to training early in the year due to several work trips and courses away from home, I began training properly in March. I put in the miles both on the roads and hills and by the time came to taper, I felt as ready as I could be for what I knew would be a challenging race.
After an 11-hour flight, the Navy team and I finally arrived in Cape Town. Arriving a week ahead of the race allowed us time to acclimatise and explore the local area and beyond. Being almost directly South of the UK, the time difference is only 1 hour in summer, meaning no jet lag. This was a definite bonus!
Time flies when you’re having fun, and before we knew it, race day was almost upon us. A trip to the Expo to collect the race pack and a sunset shake-out run organised by a local club on the Thursday, left Friday for kit prep and an early night before an alarm at ungodly hour the following day.
Gathering an hour before the race start allowed plenty of time for pre-race nerves but as time went on and more people arrived, the buzz of excitement and anticipation began to build. At 6:30am, the race began and around 200 runners sped off into the darkness and mist. The route through the city gradually began to head uphill and after climbing around 200 steps, the route headed offroad and began the first climb up Signal Hill and Lion’s Head. At the start, we were all a bit disappointed that the weather was misty. We thought we’d missed out on seeing the sunrise. However, as the route continued up the hill, we broke through the clouds and saw the most beautiful sunrise over the city from above the clouds.
A long uphill start then lost all height by going almost all the way back down. This was to be the start of the real hills. Grabbing a quick drink at the 3-mile aid station, the climb up Kloof Corner Steps towards Table Mountain began. This was a relentless climb, but it did eventually level out and began following the contour path along the side of the mountain. This afforded fabulous views, but you couldn’t afford to look up for too long for risk of tripping over the numerous large rocks.
The course then headed back uphill and the higher up the course went, the more mist seemed to descend. By the time I got to the summit, all views were lost. The route took a dubious route over The Saddle with all but the elites slowly picking their way back down the other side. Large sandy boulders over very steep terrain wound its way slowly back down the mountain and pretty much everyone agreed this was the least enjoyable and most challenging part of the whole course. Eventually winding down into the forest, the path became a bit more runnable. This was a welcome relief after such a long stretch of tough terrain where running was virtually impossible. At 12 miles, the aid station finally appeared, and I stopped for an extended period to rest, refuel and hydrate. This was when I bumped into another Navy runner, Steve, and we agreed to continue the race running together from this point.
Setting back off, the route lead us through Kirstenbosch gardens before heading back up to the next aid station at the King’s Blockhouse. Refuelling and rehydrating, we followed the route around the front of Devil’s Peak, following the contour path. This was a much more enjoyable part of the route, as large parts of it were good enough underfoot to run and there was a nice long downhill section.
What goes down must go up, and another long hill appeared around the corner. This section was on a mix of gravel and concrete and at around midday, the heat reflected off the surface making this very challenging. Steve came into his own here, almost literally dragging me up the hill as I hit a bit of a wall. Eventually reaching the top, the path became more undulating before the final long climb back up Signal Hill.
With Steve still dragging me up, we reached the final summit of the day and the Red Bull aid station. After a much-needed caffeine and morale boost we headed off downhill and towards the finish, conscious that if we put in a bit of effort we could dip under 8 hours. Following the route down an unnecessary scree slope and down the steps that we came up earlier in the day, the roles were reversed. I had a bit of a second wind going downhill but Steve began to struggle and cramp up. He had helped me and waited patiently for me on the ups; I felt it only right to reciprocate on the downs.
Into the city and the final stretch, the route led us past the finish, making us double back on ourselves. Presumably, this was to round up the distance, but annoying, nonetheless. With the blue carpet and finish line finally in sight, we crossed the line in 7 hours 52 minutes to a cheer squad of Navy runners and a medal presented by the course designer, Ryan Sandes. Not the fastest time by any means, but proud and happy to have completed it well within the 10-hour cut-off.
Priorities changed quickly to food, and we hobbled off into town for some well-earned refreshments. Totally unplanned, we ended up in a Scottish bar complete with a live pipe band for entertainment. I try my hardest to avoid bagpipes, but seemingly they follow me around the world! The tour continued for another week where we had the chance to do some more sightseeing and cultural experiences before flying back home.
On reflection, I think this race qualifies as Type 2 fun. It was the embodiment of a character-building experience, extremely physically demanding but equally rewarding in retrospect. To quote an African proverb, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together”. This sums up the race perfectly for me and I am so glad I met and ran the second half with Steve.
Do I regret entering the marathon instead of the half? Absolutely not, but I won’t be rushing back to do it again!
Will I do another marathon or even an ultra? For sure, but maybe something a little less challenging next time!
