Two Oceans Marathon Set for Easter Sunday
A record-setting field of athletes is set to compete at the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon in Cape Town next month. A record 12,000 runners are scheduled to race the half-marathon and 19,000 athletes in all are registered for the event which will be held on April 11,2009.
The Two Oceans events includes a marathon, a half-marathon, and an ultra-marathon. The half-marathon has become so popular that officials had to cut off registrations when they reached 12K. An additional 6,800 runners are set to compete in the 56-kilometer ultra event.
Rowyn James, the race director, was pleased with the numbers, given that this is the 40th anniversary of the Cape Town event. For the main event, all of the men who finished in the top ten last year will be back to compete in 2009. On the women’s side, six of 2008′s top ten are returning, including the famous Nurgalieva twins: Yelena won the event in 2004 and again in 2005 while Olesya won in 2008.
Nearly 900 of the entries are foreigners, comprising 4.5 percent of the racers. The United Kingdom leads the foreign field, with 143 athletes. They are followed by Germany with 134 entries and the United States with 110. Nearly half of the racers are from the Western Cape province of which Cape Town is the capital.
With so many athletes and fans in town for the marathon and for the Eastern holidays, the four and five star hotels in Cape Town are expected to be at or near capacity. Anyone planning to attend the event should confirm their plans immediately.
An interesting factoid about the marathon: Racers with blue numbers have completed ten previous races. This year 59 runners will be awarded blue numbers in the half-marathon and 247 will earn blue for the ultra. Currently only 45 half-marathoners have blue while 908 have already completed ten ultras. This may be due to the fact that half-marathoners sometimes move up to the regular or even ultra marathon. Last year’s third place finisher in the men’s half-marathon will be competing in the full marathon this year.
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