adidas outlines its commitment to running at the 1st Sanlam Cape Town Marathon race update of 2022

25 March 2022

New technical sponsor adidas, hosted the first race update of 2022 at its new V&A Waterfront store in Cape Town.

Planning for the 2022 Sanlam Cape Town Marathon is well underway with the race set to take place on 15 and 16 October in the Mother City. The race is in its first year of Abbott World Marathon Majors candidacy. In order to become the first marathon in Africa to be included in the series of Abbott World Marathon Majors, the race needs to meet a number of criteria over the next three years.

When asked how the planning is coming along, Francois Pienaar, Co-founder of the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon said, “We are on track. We have regular conversations with the team from Abbott World Marathon Majors and we’ve been able to learn from the Race Directors of some of the other Majors.”

Elana Meyer, Olympic silver medallist and Co-founder of the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon elaborated further, “We’re working on a route that will be in line with the Abbott World Marathon Majors’ safety and capacity requirements, making sure that it has the least possible impact to the city’s flow of traffic while maximising the space at the start to prevent runner traffic jams. We’re keeping the total climbing altitude to less than 400m, maximising the views and features of this beautiful city, and making it, even more, spectator friendly. We’ll continue to look at how we can improve the runners’ experience from their first touchpoint at the Expo through to their last at the finish line.”

Commenting on the new partnership with the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, Senior Brand Director at adidas, Kate Woods said, “It’s an honour to come on board as the technical sponsor – we look forward to supporting the race in achieving Abbott World Marathon Majors status. Globally, adidas partners with two of the other Abbott World Marathon Majors in Boston and Berlin, and will bring the same level of innovation and running expertise to the Cape Town Marathon. As a start, we unveiled the adidas Cape Town Marathon Jacket at today’s event, and it’ll be available for pre-order on the Cape Town Marathon website from next week. The jacket is made from 100% recycled material and comes with a full-length zip, pre-shaped sleeves, droptail hem and 360 degree reflectivity for high visibility on the road.”

“adidas has a long and proud history when it comes to running. Our founder, Adi Dassler, handcrafted leather track shoes with extra length spikes for Jesse Owens at the 1936 Summer Olympic Games, who went on to win four gold medals at that event. Since then, we’ve innovated behind the scenes to help some of the world’s most accomplished athletes such as Haile Gebrsellaise, Kibiwott Kandie, Rhonex Kipruto, Senbere Teferi and Peres Jepchirchir perform at their best on race day. Last year, adidas athletes achieved an incredible 60% podium wins and 40% of all podium finishes at the World Marathon Majors, setting 8 World Records across varying track and field distances!”

Runners will be able to find the most innovative adidas footwear and apparel at the race expo, as well as an adidas-branded Cape Town Marathon clothing range. Each Marathon entrant will receive a complimentary event tee as part of their entry.

When it comes to investing in running locally, adidas has welcomed a few new members to the family, including current South African Marathon record holder Gerda Steyn and fellow Olympic Marathon runner from Lesotho, Neheng Khatala; as well as two dynamic trail runners, Toni McCann and Bianca Tarboton who both recently joined the global adidas Terrex team.

Steyn is excited about her transition to adidas, saying, “I joined adidas at the beginning of the year because I’d received great feedback from international athletes about the brand’s values. What stood out for me was how invested they are in women’s sport, which is something I’m really proud to be a part of.”

Having raced competitively at the 2021 Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, Steyn says it’s an event that all elite athletes should experience. “In addition to being the only Abbot World Marathon Majors candidate in Africa, this is the only marathon in Africa with a world athletic label, plus you get to see an amazing city while you run.”

Paralympic gold medallist in the T47 400m, Anrune Weyers spoke about the significance of the event becoming more accessible to differently-abled athletes including participants competing in a wheelchair: “It’s great to see athletes of all walks of life being recognised. The race is making a point to embrace diversity and provide an opportunity for differently-abled athletes to take part, which is significant because they are just as passionate about the sport of running as the rest of the field.”

Speaking about her running goals for 2022, Weyers said, “Since my achievement at the Tokyo Paralympics, I’ve been reflecting on my journey as a Track and Field athlete, and would like to branch out into different distances of running including potentially running the Marathon distance in 2022.”

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