2014

Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon - Ultra Marathon - 56km Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon - History since 1970 ©Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon

Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon – Ultra Marathon – 56km – History since 1970

By GRR 0

Ultra Marathon – 56km

Event Information

The 45th consecutive Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon will remain on the traditional route via Chapman's Peak, Hout Bay and Constantia Nek (unless deemed unsafe by authorities in which case the Ou Kaapse Weg route (prior to 2004) will be used).

The Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon is run under the rules of IAAF, Athletics South Africa (ASA) and Western Province Athletics (WPA).

Distance

56 km (34.8 miles)

Date of Race

Easter Saturday, 19 April 2014

Start Time

06:30

History

Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon History since 1970

The Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon has earned a reputation as the world’s most beautiful marathon. The first race was held in 1970 and saw 26 runners line up to face the unknown challenge. Since then, the race has become a national institution and a firm favourite with local, upcountry, and international athletes.

Old Mutual is proud to continue its association with this great event, which is the premier event in their road-running portfolio. 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.

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.

1970's

Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon History | 1970's

1970 The first race, Saturday 2 May 1970

The race was never intended to be anything more than a training run to enable Cape Town runners to prepare for the Comrades Marathon. The 26 runners who set out on the 35-miler from Impala Park were not aware that they were the pioneers of an event that in later years would attract more than 9 000 entrants. Entry fee was 50 cents and 15 people finished the race. Dirkie Steyn won the event in 3:55:50 and ran barefoot.

1971 The race moves to Brookside

1972 The race is officially name The Two Oceans

1973 The race is held over the Easter weekend for thr first time

1974 The first female entrant

1975 The first black entrants and the first female

1976 The first black winner

1977 The Race becomes a "Pre-Race Entries Only" event

1978 Janet Bailey becomes the first woman to break the 5 hour barrier

1979 Hugh Amoore is awarded the first permanent blue number

1980's

Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon History | 1980's

1980 Another new women's record

Gail Ingram of Varsity Kudus beat Di Alperstein's record by over 8 and a half minutes by finishing in 4:14:05.

1981 Johnny Halberstadt dominates

1982 The first female Silver Medalist

1983 A close finish

1984 Number of entries exceeds 3000

1985 Siphiwe Gqele and Beverley Malan score the first Two Oceans Marathon triple wins

1986 Beverley Malan fails to make four wins

1987 Thompson Magawana breaks Halberstadt's record

1988 Thompson Magawana shatters all previous records

1989 Frith van der Merwe sets a new course record for women

1990's

Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon History | 1990's

1990 The first Friday Run

In 1990, Professor Kevin Rochford approached the Two Oceans Committee with a proposal for a special Friday run, in order to accommodate those runners whose religious beliefs prevented them from running on a Saturday. Kevin, who finished 17th in 1975, was unable to run the race for 15 years because he had a special dispensation to observe the 'Saturday Sabbath'. The committee granted his request, which was the start of a new tradition. On Friday 13 April 1990, committee members Chet Sainsbury, Chris Goldschmidt and 19 other runners (including Kevin) lined up for the first Friday run – everyone managed to complete the race within the 6 hour cut-off time.

1991 A record entry of 9227

1992 The wettest Two Oceans Marathon in history

1993 Blind Two Oceans Medallist

1994 The great train delay

1995 Foreign athletes dominate the Women's Race

1996 First Silver for a Grandmaster (60+)

1997 Sinqe wins for a second time

1998 A new start, a new medal, a new qualifying time, a new finish and a new half marathon

1999 Angelina Sephooa wins for the third time

2000's

Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon History | 2000's

2000 cut-off extended to 7 hours and Chapmans's Peak closes

The cut-off time was extended again, from 6 hours 30 minutes to 7 hours. However, this major change almost went unnoticed, because the Two Oceans Marathon was about to face one of the biggest challenges in its history.

In January 2000, Chapman's Peak Drive had to close to traffic after a devastating fire and a series of rock falls. The race organisers were faced with a huge problem, as a Two Oceans Marathon without Chappies was almost unthinkable. They now had to devise an alternative course that would be as challenging and scenic as the route the runners had been using for the past 30 years.

For the next four years, the race would go over Ou Kaapse Weg, with the race distance being maintained at 56 km. Joshua Peterson narrowly beat Vladimir Kotov, a veteran from Belarus, by only 8 seconds finishing in 3 hours 13 minutes and 12 seconds.

2001 Changes to qualifying time and minimum age for entrants

2002 A record number of Half Marathon Entries

2003 Entries exceed 14 000 for the first time

2004 Record entries

2005 Both Ultra Marathon Titles successfully defended!

2006 Celtic Harriers celebrates their Centenary

2007 Half Marathon biggest in the country

2008 New Race Director, Technical Sponsor & Charity & the Half Marathon breaks entry records again

2009 Celebrating 40 years and 10 years with Old Mutual

2010's

Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon History | 2010's

2010 Lesotho runners dominate one of the biggest ultra fields and Two Oceans goes off road with a trail run

2011 Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon attracted biggest field ever

2012 Half Marathon breaks all records and the fourth biggest field in the Ultra, plus a new route introduced for the half.

2013 Novice runner beats competitive field to win the world's most beautiful marathon in 2013

A record field of athletes lined up at the start of the 2013 Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon in cold and windy conditions, although the rain that marked the previous event did not make an appearance. Novice runner David Gatebe beat a highly competitive field at the 44th Old Mutual Two Oceans Ultra Marathon in a time of 03:08:54.

Second place went to Nedbank runner Mthandazo Qhina (03:10:02), who competed in his fourth Two Oceans Ultra Marathon, while Moeketsi Mosuhli (03:10:23) from Lesotho claimed third place.

For the first time since 2007, the Russian twins – Elena and Olesya Nurgalieva – could not achieve a win, with compatriot Natalia Volgina winning in a time of 03:38:38, just over a minute ahead of second place Thabita Tsatsa from Zimbabwe and third place ultra marathon novice Charne Bosman.

In the Half Marathon race, both the Men’s and Ladies winners established new course records despite the windy conditions. Stephen Lesego Mokoka (Team Transnet) won the Men’s race in a time 01:03:36, beating Lusapho April (Oxford Striders) and Joel Mmone (Nedbank Development) to the finish.

In the Ladies race, Ethiopian runner Biru Meseret Mengista stormed to victory in a time of 01:12:43, shaving more than two minutes off the course record, set last year by Rene Kalmer, who managed to take second place. Third place in the ladies 21km went to Irvette van Blerk.

In 2013, the Half Marathon attracted another maximum field, with just over 16 000 participants taking part – more than half of them were women. The Ultra Marathon attracted a record field of over 10 000 entrants, making it the biggest-ever entry field for the Ultra Marathon in the event’s history, a testament to its global reputation as the world’s most beautiful marathon.

The Half Marathon is the biggest in the country and broke all entry records when entries closed in just four days. The Trail Run also set entry records of its own as all 800 entries were bought in under three hours. This was the fourth year the trail run was being held and it has become a “must do” event on the trail running calendar.

For the first time, the Expo was hosted at the inspirational Cape Town International Convention Centre, where runners and sports enthusiasts could experience the latest in sports equipment, fashion, nutrition and health.

2013 marked the 14^th year of the partnership with naming-rights sponsor Old Mutual, whose support has helped make this event one of the top marathons in the world, and new technical sponsor adidas signed a three-year deal.

Source: Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon

Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon