Fifty six kilometres on closed public roads around the Cape Peninsula. The route runs south from Main Road in Newlands along the False Bay coast through Muizenberg, Kalk Bay and Fish Hoek, crosses to Noordhoek, climbs Chapman's Peak Drive into Hout Bay, then goes up Constantia Nek and Southern Cross Drive before dropping down Rhodes Drive past Kirstenbosch to the finish on the University of Cape Town rugby fields. Runners are seeded into 19 batches by their qualifying time and leave from 6 AM, and timing is gun to mat from their own batch. Nineteen hydration stations line the route, the first two carrying water only.
The first twenty kilometres along Main Road to Fish Hoek are flat and fast. The climbing is all in the second half: Chapman's Peak Drive from about 28 km, then Constantia Nek and Southern Cross Drive straight after the marathon mark, which is where the race is usually decided. Chet's Hill, near Kirstenbosch, is a small climb that turns into a real one at 54 km. The elevation profile on the race's route map runs from 3 metres to 242 metres. If Chapman's Peak Drive cannot be used, the race is diverted over Ou Kaapse Weg, and that decision can be made before the start or during the race.
The Totalsports Two Oceans Ultra Marathon powered by BYD is a 56 kilometre road race around the Cape Peninsula, from Main Road in Newlands to the rugby fields on the University of Cape Town's upper campus. It is run on closed roads through Muizenberg, Kalk Bay, Fish Hoek and Noordhoek, over Chapman's Peak Drive and up Constantia Nek, and the race has been called the world's most beautiful marathon for most of its life. Runners leave in seeded batches from 6 AM and have seven hours from their own batch's gun to be official finishers, with medals at four hours, five hours, six hours and seven hours. Finish it ten times and you earn a Blue Number, which is your race number for life.
The race began in 1970 as the Celtic 35 Mile Road Race, an initiative of the Celtic Harriers club, and became the Two Oceans Marathon. Women were first officially allowed to enter in 1975. The current route, finishing at the University of Cape Town, has been run since 1998; before that the race finished at the Brookside Sport Grounds. The men's course record of 3:03:44 was set in 1988 on that older route and still stands. In 2026 the ultra marathon was awarded the Golden Label certificate by the International Association of Ultrarunners.
| Mile | Station | Cutoff | Crew access | Bag | Pacer | Med | To next |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.00 | Start, Main Road, Newlands | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 1.86 |
| 1.86 | Main Rd, Wynberg | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 1.87 |
| 3.73 | Main Rd, Diep River | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 1.86 |
| 5.59 | Main Rd, Bergvliet | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 1.87 |
| 7.46 | Lakeside | ? | ? | ? | ? | ● | 1.86 |
| 9.32 | Main Rd, Muizenberg | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 2.49 |
| 11.81 | Main Rd, Fish Hoek | ? | ? | ? | ? | ● | 1.86 |
| 13.67 | Kommetjie Rd, Fish Hoek | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 1.86 |
| 15.53 | Noordhoek Main Road | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 1.87 |
| 17.40 | Noordhoek Common | ? | ? | ? | ? | ● | 1.24 |
| 18.64 | Little Chappies | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 1.87 |
| 20.51 | Chapman's Peak | ? | · | ? | ? | ● | 1.86 |
| 22.37 | Chapman's Peak | ? | · | ? | ? | ? | 1.86 |
| 24.23 | Hout Bay | ? | ? | ? | ? | ● | 1.87 |
| 26.10 | Main Rd, Hout bay | ? | ? | ? | ? | ● | 1.24 |
| 27.34 | Main Rd, Hout Bay | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 1.24 |
| 28.58 | Rhodes Rd Constantia | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 1.87 |
| 30.45 | Rhodes Drive | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 1.86 |
| 32.31 | Kirstenbosch Main Gate | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 1.24 |
| 33.55 | M3 Wildlife Services Entrance | ? | ? | ? | ? | ● | 1.25 |
| 34.80 |
Finish, UCT Rugby Fields
None · physician on site
|
? | ? | ? | ? | ● | ? |
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