Johannesburg City Marathon launches its second edition

The event will feature three race distances: 42.2km, 21.1km, and 10km, all taking place at the Klipriviersburg Recreation Centre in Johannesburg. Organizers have set a participant cap of 10,000 runners. 

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Nathalie Roelf, the secretary of the Harriers Athletics Club, which is overseeing the event, confirmed to the national broadcaster that registration for next year’s race is now open and encouraged runners to sign up.

''Why Johannesburg City Marathon, it is the one race that runs on the M1 and there are very little races that can celebrate with a few runners with experience, we also have 120 years of being a running club,'' said Roelf.

The men’s and women’s elite marathon and half-marathon runners will be rewarded for finishing first.

''Right now the prize money  is R5000 for the first man and woman, and it goes to R2500 for the second and R1500 for the third man and woman. We also got a prize for the junior and a prize for 10km for men and women,'' added Roelf. 

Roelf encouraged runners to take advantage of the race as a Comrades Marathon qualifier and a rare opportunity to experience the city from the perspective of the M1 highway.

''It's a great race firstly. It is very challenging, there's a lot of ups, there's flats, there's downs, you get to see the City from a different point of view as a Comrades qualifier,'' she expressed.

Comrades and Two Oceans Marathon record-holder Gerda Steyn was among the renowned athletes who took part in the annual event. Roelf knows that to draw more international runners, the organizers need to raise the prize money to be competitive with other major marathons in the country.

Runners looking to register for the Johannesburg City Marathon can sign up at peaktiming.co.za by searching for the event. Entry fees are R380 for the marathon, R280 for the half-marathon, and R180 for the 10km race.