How much will Cape Town marathon winners earn?
· The South African
The Cape Town marathon action gets underway on Saturday with the five shorter distance events that form part of a festival weekend of running.
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Sunday’s marathon action begins with the inspirational Peace Flame Ceremony at 7:20am, and then the Wheelchair Invitational race sets off at 7:50am, followed by the Elite start at 8am.
The prize purse for the 2026 Sanlam Cape Town Marathon has been significantly increased, with the top 10 men and women, plus main race age group podium finishers (not to be confused with the Age Group World Champs) splitting a pot of R3,598,000 – 40% up from last year’s R2,578,000.
What will the Cape Town marathon winners bank?
The increased prize for the winner is now $35,000 (approximately R595,000, working on an exchange rate of R17 to the US Dollar), up from the $25,000 first prize on offer in 2025.
Second place will now earn $20,000 instead of $15,000, while third place is worth $15,000 instead of $10,000. The top 10 men and women, as well as the top five male and female wheelchair athletes, will be paid in US Dollars, as per standard practice in AbbottWMM events.
Other figures to note
The wheelchair athletes have also seen their prize purse increased by around 35%, with the total prize purse climbing from R612,000 to R833,000. The wheelchair winners will now pocket $10,000 instead of $8000, while second place is up from $4000 to $5500, and third is worth $4500 instead of $3000.
The incentive for breaking the men’s or women’s course record has also been increased by 33%, from $15,000 to $20,000, and the organisers have thrown in an extra R250,000 incentive for a new World Record.
Local athletes will also have something to race for, with the first three South African men and women claiming R25,000, R12,500 and R7500 respectively, while the first three Western Province athletes will be rewarded with prize money of R3000, R2000 and R1000. Furthermore, if a South African marathoner can break the SA Record, he or she will pocket a cool $10,000 incentive.
The combined prize purse for 2026, across the marathon, wheelchair race, 10km Peace Run and three Trail Runs, has been increased 37% from 2025’s R3,554,500 to R4,862,500. When all the record incentives are added, the total prize purse on offer amounts to a massive R6,602,500!