Close to 19 000 runners will line up for the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon on Easter Saturday 11 April. The half marathon has again attracted a record field and entries had to be cut off when they reached the 12 000 mark. Ultra entries are also up on last year with 6800 runners taking on the 56km voyage.
Said Rowyn James, race director: “These figures are very encouraging for us especially as we celebrate our 40th anniversary. They also show that interest in road running, and even ultra events, is still high, which is good for the sport in general as many road races have seen a dip in numbers over the past year.”
This year sees a change in the spread of runners with Western Province recording the biggest overall contingent of runners taking part in both events with 9 284 participants which is 46.6% of the total field. Next is Gauteng with 4 654 runners in both events and is 23,3% of the whole field.
Other interesting statistics include the following:
· Administrative entries constitute 16.7% of the total entries received, which means that 83.3% of all the entries received entered online.
· 893 runners or 4.5% of the total field will be coming from outside the borders of South Africa. 143 runners are coming from the UK, 134 from Germany and 110 from USA.
· 59 runners will get their blue number for completing 10 half marathons. 45 runners participating in the 21km have their blue number already.
· 247 runners will get their blue number for completing 10 ultras. 908 runners participating in the 56km have their blue number already.
· 38% of the field (7608 runners) purchased a ChampionChip, which potentially indicates that it is the first time that they are participating in the race.
· In the 56km, 77% of the field are men and 23% are women. 27% of the ultra field will be doing the race for the first time. 68% of the ultra field comes from outside of the Western Cape.
· In the 21 km, 54% of the field are men and 46% are women. Just over half the field (51%) are novices and will be doing the race for the first time. 39% of this total field comes from outside of the Western Cape. 55% will be running in a temporary license i.e. are not a member of a club.
· 40 runners in the 21km and 24 runners in the 56 km will celebrate their birthday on race day.
· The 3 biggest Western Province clubs entries come from Varsity Old Boys with 379 runners, Celtic Harriers with 275 runners and Durbanville with 174 runners in both races combined. Rand Athletic Club from Gauteng has 311 entries for both races.
· Last years top 10 men in the 56km have all re-entered. In the women’s race, 6 out of the top 10 last year have re-entered. The Nurgalieva twins have confirmed their entries for 2009 and an interesting entry is Zimbabwean runner Samukeliso Moyo who was 3rd in the 21km last year.
· In the 21km, 5 of last year's top 10 in the men have re-entered. George Majaji will not be back to defend his title. In the women’s race, 6 of last year’s top 10 have entered however last year’s winner Mamorallo Tjoka has not entered. Other names to watch are course record holder Helalia Johannes from Namibia and Irvette van Blerk.
Said Rowyn James, race director: “These figures are very encouraging for us especially as we celebrate our 40th anniversary. They also show that interest in road running, and even ultra events, is still high, which is good for the sport in general as many road races have seen a dip in numbers over the past year.”
This year sees a change in the spread of runners with Western Province recording the biggest overall contingent of runners taking part in both events with 9 284 participants which is 46.6% of the total field. Next is Gauteng with 4 654 runners in both events and is 23,3% of the whole field.
Other interesting statistics include the following:
· Administrative entries constitute 16.7% of the total entries received, which means that 83.3% of all the entries received entered online.
· 893 runners or 4.5% of the total field will be coming from outside the borders of South Africa. 143 runners are coming from the UK, 134 from Germany and 110 from USA.
· 59 runners will get their blue number for completing 10 half marathons. 45 runners participating in the 21km have their blue number already.
· 247 runners will get their blue number for completing 10 ultras. 908 runners participating in the 56km have their blue number already.
· 38% of the field (7608 runners) purchased a ChampionChip, which potentially indicates that it is the first time that they are participating in the race.
· In the 56km, 77% of the field are men and 23% are women. 27% of the ultra field will be doing the race for the first time. 68% of the ultra field comes from outside of the Western Cape.
· In the 21 km, 54% of the field are men and 46% are women. Just over half the field (51%) are novices and will be doing the race for the first time. 39% of this total field comes from outside of the Western Cape. 55% will be running in a temporary license i.e. are not a member of a club.
· 40 runners in the 21km and 24 runners in the 56 km will celebrate their birthday on race day.
· The 3 biggest Western Province clubs entries come from Varsity Old Boys with 379 runners, Celtic Harriers with 275 runners and Durbanville with 174 runners in both races combined. Rand Athletic Club from Gauteng has 311 entries for both races.
· Last years top 10 men in the 56km have all re-entered. In the women’s race, 6 out of the top 10 last year have re-entered. The Nurgalieva twins have confirmed their entries for 2009 and an interesting entry is Zimbabwean runner Samukeliso Moyo who was 3rd in the 21km last year.
· In the 21km, 5 of last year's top 10 in the men have re-entered. George Majaji will not be back to defend his title. In the women’s race, 6 of last year’s top 10 have entered however last year’s winner Mamorallo Tjoka has not entered. Other names to watch are course record holder Helalia Johannes from Namibia and Irvette van Blerk.