Overview

About this event

The 2026 Nelson Mandela Marathon will take place Sunday, 18 October 2026 from 06:00, at Grand Parade, Darling Street in Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. Distances include a 42km, 21km, 10km and 5km races.

Incorportaing the Slave Route Challenge.
The marathon is a Comrades & Two Oceans Qualifier.

Races

Distances & fees

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

Sunday 18 Oct 2026

Distance	Entry Fee	Junior	Temp Licence	Type	Start	Cut-off	Details
Nelson Mandela Marathon	ZAR 700	—	ZAR 105	Road	06:00	—
Minimum age 20 years
Slave Route Challenge Half-Marathon	ZAR 260	—	ZAR 95	Road	07:00	—
Minimum age 16 years
Slave Route Challenge 10km Run & Fun Walk	ZAR 190	ZAR 150	ZAR 60	Run / Walk	07:30	—
Temp Licence (Junior) ZAR 40 Minimum age 14 years
Slave Route Challenge 5km Fun Run & Walk	ZAR 80	—	—	Run / Walk	07:40	—
Minimum age 10 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.

Enter Now

No entries available on race day.

Pre-race

Number collection

Collection venues, dates and times.

City Hall, Darling Street

Sat, 17 Oct 2026 · 09:00–16:00

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 · 10:00–20:00

On the day

Race Day Information

Practical information for race day.

Start Grand Parade, Darling Street, Cape Town

Finish Grand Parade, Darling Street, Cape Town

• START: All routes will start in Strand Street

Where

Location

Where the event starts and how to get there.

Grand Parade, Darling Street

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

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History

Past editions

Previous edition: 2025

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