Overview

About this event

The 2025 Knysna Forest Marathon took place Saturday, 5 July 2025 from 07:00, at Knysna Forest in Knysna, Western Cape, South Africa. Distances included a 42km and 21km races.

The Knysna Forest Marathon features many unique highlights that cannot be found in any other trail run in the world. True to its name, most of the route runs deep into the Knysna Forest with breathtaking views over the estuary and even the iconic Knysna Heads, a great distraction to get you through those last few kilometers.

Races

Distances & fees

Distances, start times, cut-offs and entry fees.

Saturday 5 Jul 2025

Distance	Entry Fee	Temp Licence	Type	Start	Cut-off	Details
Marathon Sold out	ZAR 290	ZAR 45	Road	07:00	12:30
Minimum age 20 years
Half-Marathon Sold out	ZAR 270	ZAR 45	Road	08:00	11:30
Minimum age 16 years

Temporary ASA licence fee — only payable if you are not a member of an affiliated running club.

Entry

How to enter

Information on how to enter this event.

Entries via Entry Ninja

• Online entries only. No Postal, fax or telephone entries will be accepted.

No entries available on race day.

Pre-race

Number collection

Collection venues, dates and times.

Knysna High School Sports Field

Fri, 4 Jul 2025 · 10:00–22:00

• There will be no registration or number collection on Saturday morning. No exceptions. 
• The race number confirmation together with positive Photo identification such as an ID book or a driver license must be produced at registration.
• NO POSITIVE ID, NO RACE PACK.

On the day

Race Day Information

Practical information for race day.

Start Knysna Forest, Knysna

Finish Knysna Forest, Knysna

• Taxis start leaving from Vigilance Drive at 04h30. Last taxi leaves at 06:00. Traffic gets very backed up with all the runners trying to get to the taxis. DO NOT BE LATE!
• No private drop-offs allowed.
• There will be free tea, coffee and biscuits for all athletes at the start.
• Shuttle Service: Free taxi back to the start point from the finishing field.

Course

Route maps & elevation

Route maps and elevation profiles.

Marathon (42.2 km)

Half-Marathon (21.1 km)

Press

Press & Review

Independent reviews and coverage of this event.

The Running Mann

Knysna Forest Marathon (like father, like son) - The Running Mann

151 marathons separated my 10th and 11th Knysna Forest Marathons - the good news is that it's still one of the best marathons on the calendar.

Read the full review on The Running Mann

Where

Location

Where the event starts and how to get there.

Knysna Forest

Contact

Contact the organiser

Send a message to the organiser and they'll reply to the email you provide.

Your name

Email

Message

Send message

Train

Training programs

Hand-picked training pathways to get you to the start line ready.

Coach Parry

Structured, app-delivered plans for every distance from 5 km to Comrades — daily workouts, pace targets, Strava sync and a South African coaching community.

Affiliate · disclosed Start free trial

OwnMyRun · Gerda Steyn

Free, self-guided training plans built by Comrades & 2 Oceans champion Gerda Steyn — a great starting point if you want structure without a subscription.

View plans

Energy Lab

A South African running community with a built-in training app — adaptive plans whose paces recalculate as you get fitter, plus club runs, results and event RSVPs. Free while in beta.

Join Energy Lab

Nearby

You may also like

Running for Transformation

16 Jun 2026

10km 5km

RCS GUGS Youth Race

16 Jun 2026

10km 4.2km

McDonalds 2 McDonalds Youth Day Race

16 Jun 2026

10km

Saldanha Sea Harvest Foundation Health Run

20 Jun 2026

Half Marathon 10km 5km

Montagu Pass

20 Jun 2026

17km Trail 10km 5km

NG Kerk Outeniqualand 12km

20 Jun 2026

12km 4km

History

Past editions

Previous edition: 2024

View all previous →