Its fair to say that race day did not go as expected. I set my alarm for 4.10am, opened the curtains and all looked good, dark but dry and warm. I went through my race morning routine, ate breakfast and had a small nespresso coffee and checked all my e-mails and messages. My first marathon since 2018.

This was of course a momentous day for Cape Town as it was their final test to become an Abbott’s World major next May – no pressure.

There was an odd AI generated e-mail in Facebook saying that the race was cancelled but I didn’t pay any attention to it as it was AI generated and in all likelihood, spam. At 5.50am I left my room and made my way down to hotel reception to walk to the race for my 6.40am start time. The lobby was eerily quiet and I immediately spotted Nikki from Sports Tours with the horrible job of waiting to tell us that the race was in fact cancelled.

I am going to digress here, as I was in the very fortunate position of being hosted on this trip to Cape Town by Sports Tours International who we purchase our race spots off for London and Cape Town. This meant that we had already met with the Marathon CEO on Thursday evening and had access to up to date info from Sports Tours – more on this later.

I think I was stunned more than anything else, I wasn’t angry or upset, just stunned. We chatted for a few moments until the reality of the situation set in. High winds starting at 1.00am had blown infrastructure down, fencing had blown across roads and by 4.45am conditions had not changed with 65 buses with runners already en-route to the race. These buses were held for 30 minutes without unloading while organizers worked through their options.

In consultation with their safety crew and the City it became clear that they could not guarantee the safety of the runners, volunteers and event staff so the decision was made to cancel with a delay not being possible, hard to keep 25,000 people in a holding pattern for an undetermined period of time. Food, drinks and portapotties would be problematic with a delay as there were staggered start times planned in 2 locations.

I eventually wandered back to my room at 6.30am put the TV on and by a spot of good luck was able to watch the MotoGP race from Philip Island, one of the best motor racing circuits in the world. When it ended, I realised it was going to be a long day and as I was dressed and had eaten my race breakfast I headed out for what I thought would be a 8 or 9k run, even though the motivation wasn’t high.

Turned out, 25,000 people had the same idea and I ended up with a 21k run on a glorious morning with a gentle breeze on our backs in glorious sunshine.

By the time I got back to the hotel the conspiracy theories had started of course, and it was all our group could talk about as this was obviously an enormous race for Cape Town as it was their final test to become an Abbotts World major next May.

The CEO of Cape Town marathon was scheduled to present to us all again on Monday morning so we were keen to see if he would honor his commitment, despite the extenuating circumstances and the fact that this was now a major sporting story all over the world.

To his eternal credit, Clark showed up on time and chatted with all of us and explained how and why the race could not be run. Representatives of Abbotts were in the City for race weekend so clearly, they were included in the decision at an early stage. Clark handled our questions with dignity, calm and a little touch of humor. I cannot imagine the gut punching feeling Clark and his team must have felt having to make this tough call but it’s fair to say that I sympathize with him.

No decision has been made of the status of the Cape Town Marathon regarding their Abbotts status but meetings have already taken place to discuss next steps with an announcement still planned for early November.

I ran with thousands of people on Sunday morning, crews were out cheering and supporting, running groups were in their hundreds, tables were set up with water, supporters had there signs, music was blaring, people were singing and cheering support for us all as we ran in different directions over many different distances. No-one was angry, the African people were very empathetic and chilled about the whole experience, and we were all sharing our own unique and wonderful unplanned adventure along the magnificent sea front of the amazing city of Cape Town.

Our “celebration’ meal that night was a tasting menu in a drumming restaurant called Gold. We all had our individual drums and were taught a few African rhythms at the start of the evening. So no sore legs from running a marathon, only sore fingers for beating a drum for 30 minutes and an incredibly fun night as 200 people played their drums in our own style.

All I can say is that next May, whatever happens with Abbott’s, Cape Town Marathon will be an incredible celebration of running and I have a special story to share from 2025, one that I will never forget.

Would I support Cape Town marathon in the future? Yes absolutely. Cancelling a race 90 minutes before its due to start is a bad look but they handled it with dignity and grace, as did the runners and the feeling that came across loud and clear from the organizers and the people of Cape Town was that the May 2026 marathon will be something special.