The 2025 Sanlam Cape Town Marathon ended before it even began, leaving 24 000 runners and event organisers devastated after the race was cancelled just 90 minutes before the scheduled start due to dangerous weather conditions.
Excitement turned to disbelief on Sunday morning when athletes, many of whom had trained for months, were told the event would not go ahead . Overnight gale-force winds had caused significant damage to race infrastructure and sections of the route, forcing organisers to call an emergency meeting before dawn.
The Joint Operations Committee JOC, made up of representatives from the City of Cape Town's Disaster Risk Management, Safety and Security departments, SAPS and medical services - deemed the course unsafe for both participants and spectators. By 4:45am, the heartbreaking decision was made to call off the marathon, which was due to start at 6:15am.