Esa smashes course record at Cape Town Marathon while Kipchoge completes the first marathon of his World Tour

After Mohamed Esa considered his Cape Town Marathon plans, failure was not one of them. He experienced a setback in April’s Boston Marathon and redeemed himself nicely on Sunday in South Africa.

Esa didn’t just win the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon; he smashed a new course record. The dsm‑firmenich athlete tore through the course in 2:04:55, erasing the record and any lingering doubt after last month’s aborted Boston campaign. If that DNF left a bruise, Cape Town was the salve.

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The Ethiopian, already a three‑time Abbott World Marathon Majors podium finisher, arrived with the weight of pre‑race favouritism and handled it with the calm of someone ordering coffee. He split halfway in 1:02:49, then spent the late stages in a four‑man chess match that looked destined to come down to the wire.

It didn’t. At 40K, Esa flicked the switch, surged, and the elastic snapped. Fellow Ethiopian Yihunilign Adane hung on gamely but couldn’t quite close, finishing four seconds back. Kenya’s Kalipus Lomwai rounded out the podium in 2:05:06, while Esa collected not only the win but the first marathon victory of his career and on African soil, no less.

“To win my first marathon here in Africa, on home ground, and in a course‑record time makes this victory very special to me,” Esa said, understating what was, by any measure, a breakout performance.

Teammate Maru Teferi, the former world marathon silver medallist, delivered a workmanlike 2:06:46 for seventh — not flashy, but solid, and indicative of a man who knows how to manage a long season.

And then there was Eliud Kipchoge, running less for the clock and more for the passport stamp. Cape Town marked the opening chapter of his World Tour, a three‑year, seven‑continent odyssey that blends competition, community outreach, and the kind of global goodwill only Kipchoge can generate.

“Cape Town, this was a special day,” he said afterward. “Today was a celebration of running on this beautiful course… You all made our first stop on the tour one we’ll never forget. I’m proud to begin our world tour in Africa and to run my first-ever marathon on home soil.”

For arguably the greatest marathoner in history, running wasn’t about splits. The race was about symbolism. For Esa, it was about arrival. Cape Town, as it often does, delivered, and so did the athletes.

Women

It was an Ethiopian sweep in the women’s field with Dera Dida Yami taking the win in 2:23:18.

Mestawut Fikir finished 28 seconds back for second place, and rounding out the podium was Waganesh Amare in 11 seconds back of her in 2:23:57.

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Cape Town’s course is rolling in nature, similar to the New York City Marathon profile.

The 29-year-old Dida has clocked a marathon as fast as 2:18:32, which she ran in 2025 in Dubai. Likewise, Fikir ran 2:18:48 in Berlin two years ago. In October, Amare ran the Amsterdam Marathon in 2:20:26.

Top finishers

TOP RESULTS MEN’S MARATHON

TOP RESULTS WOMEN’S MARATHON

*Photo credit: ©️ dsm-firmenich Running Team