2026 Two Oceans Marathon Results: 7th Win for Gerda Steyn, Debut Victory for Arthur Jantjies

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Before sunrise on Saturday, April 11, runners set off in waves to start the 2026 Two Oceans Marathon in Cape Town, South Africa. The front of the race catapulted off the start line. Some 56 fast kilometers later, it was South Africa’s Gerda Steyn winning for the women in 3:27:43, her seventh victory of the race, and Arthur Jantjies, also of the home country, taking the men’s win in 3:09:25.

Gerda Steyn - 2026 Two Oceans Marathon champion — Gerda Steyn, the 2026 Two Oceans Marathon champion. Photo: Two Oceans Marathon

The day was forecast to be cloudy, with temperatures around 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius), and although the scenery would be breathtaking, the frontrunners would be flying through it in an exciting, fast race.

The Two Oceans Marathon — a 56k (35 miles) road race in Cape Town, South Africa — is widely considered the most beautiful marathon in the world, despite being some 14k longer than a traditional marathon distance. The course starts on Main Road, Newlands, and ends at the University of Cape Town, navigating in a loop along the coastlines. Runners pass through city, forest, and mountainous landscapes, with flatter sections to keep the pace sharp, and the challenging climbs on Chapman’s Peak Drive and Constantia Nek are saved for the back half of the race. It features approximately 700 meters (2,300 feet) of elevation gain.

The Two Oceans Marathon is part of a weekend of racing, including two trail races on Friday around Table Mountain, and a half marathon on Sunday. In 2026, the combined prize purse was 2.6 million South African Rand. Some 14,000 entries are given for the ultra, and 30,000 across the weekend of racing.

The race attracts a large elite field and a loyal group of repeat contenders. The top contender in the women’s race was Steyn, the returning champion with six wins to her name, who has taken the title every time she’s lined up. Carla Molinaro (U.K.), a regular at the Comrades Marathon, was returning for a fourth time, having finished fourth in 2025. Dikeledi Majara (Lesotho) was also returning, having finished in fifth place behind Molinaro last year. Courtney Olsen (U.S.) was lining up for the first time.

In the men’s race, the defending champion from 2025, Joseph Khoarahlane Seutloali (Lesotho), was returning. Onalenna Khonkhobe (South Africa) and Mopenyane Lebelo (Lesotho) were looking to do battle again, after finishing in first and fourth, respectively, in 2024. For the first time in 40 years, Bruce Fordyce would not be toeing the line.

Read on to find out how the race played out.

Table of Contents

2026 Two Oceans Marathon Women’s Race

The lead pack of women was large, and they were seemingly working together to hold a metronomic pace, passing through the 5k mark in 17:36. The official leader there was Dikeledi Majara (Lesotho), with Nobuhle Nobukhosi Tshuma (Zimbabwe) and Irvette van Zyl (South Africa) in second and third, respectively. Race favorite and returning champion Gerda Steyn (South Africa) was in sixth, but really, the front 10 women were mere seconds apart. At this point, Courtney Olsen (U.S.) and Carla Molinaro (U.K.) were under two minutes back from the lead, in 13th and 15th places, respectively.

This lead pack stayed solid through to the 20k mark in 1:10:34, where the official rankings shuffled, and the front six women extended more of a gap. Steyn moved up alongside Tshuma in the lead, with Margaret Jepchumba (Kenya) in the mix, and Mildred Chepkemei Kinyanja (Kenya) moving up the ranks in fourth. Early pace pusher van Zyl was gone from the front, and she would finish the race but off pace. Steyn and Jepchumba maintained their lead through 35k in 2:08:37, and after the climb around Chapman’s Peak Drive alongside the ocean, the front six women whittled down to a front five: Kenyans Bize Beira Negasa and Rholex Jelimo and Tshuma, 30 seconds behind Steyn and Jepchumba.

At the marathon mark, looking at the biggest climb of the race, Steyn passed through in 2:34:33, ready to twist the knife toward another victory. Jepchumba held on, but ultimately dropped back a couple of minutes by the 50k mark. This was more of an indicator of Steyn’s speed rather than Jepchumba dropping off the pace, however, as she extended her gap from Tshuma in third even further. While Steyn passed through 50k in 3:06:05, there was now nearly 17 minutes separating the top-10 women.

Jepchumba held strong, but Steyn’s finishing kick saw her hurl back toward Cape Town, relishing the final downhill, to take her seventh win at this race. Gerda Steyn won in 3:27:43. Margaret Jepchumba finished in second place in 3:33:31, and Nobuhle Nobukhosi Tshuma maintained third place to finish in 3:38:34.

2026 Two Oceans Marathon Women’s Results

Gerda Steyn (South Africa) – 3:27:43
Margaret Jepchumba (Kenya) – 3:33:31
Nobuhle Nobukhosi Tshuma (Zimbabwe) – 3:38:34
Shelmith Muriuki (Kenya) – 3:39:14
Rholex Jelimo (Kenya) – 3:40:38
Mildred Chepkemei Kinyanja (Kenya) – 3:42:42
Bize Beyira Negasa (Kenya) – 3:43:00
Neheng Khatala (Lesotho) – 3:43:43
Courtney Olsen (U.S.) – 3:44:40
Loveness Madziva (Zimbabwe) – 3:48:54

Full results.

2026 Two Oceans Marathon Men’s Race

The men’s race started quickly and saw a lot of position changes, with some runners falling off the lead after 5k and others moving up to dominate. The timings were scattered, with 30 seconds between the top-10 men at 5k, stretching out to a minute at 14k. But the chase pack was massive, and positions became arbitrary — the race clearly wouldn’t be over until they crossed the finish line. Significantly, though, Blessing Waison (Zimbabwe) and Tshepo Ramashamole (Lesotho) took the lead at 14k in 47:06, beginning their battle for first place.

Waison passed through the 20k mark officially holding the lead in 1:05:40, Ramashamole still on his shoulder. Dereje Debele Tulu (Ethiopia) slid up to third position, but the field was starting to spread out, runners perhaps saving some energy for the climbs to come. Despite Tulu holding a strong pace, at 28k, Waison and Ramashamole maintained their lead from the rest of the field in 1:34:05. Tulu was left increasingly in no-man’s land, with a minute between him and the leaders and back to the chase pack, a mass passing through around two minutes behind the lead. But now, the climbing would begin.

At the 35k mark, undulating alongside the Atlantic Ocean, the men’s race remained steady, with the same men in the top-three spots. Further back, though, Arthur Jantjies (South Africa) was beginning to make his move, ascending to 10th position. This was Jantjies’ first Two Oceans Marathon participation, though he’d won the half marathon twice before. Around the marathon mark, Waison seemed to finally break away from Ramashamole, a small but significant nine seconds now between them.

Arthur Jantjies - 2026 Two Oceans Marathon champion — Arthur Jantjies, the 2026 Two Oceans Marathon champion. Photo: Two Oceans Marathon

By the 50k mark, suddenly everything had changed. The final push, downhill after the race’s largest climb, was well underway. Onalenna Khonkhobe (South Africa) came from behind to charge in first place, Jantjies dominated the climbs to move up to second, Joseph Khoarahlane Seutloali (Lesotho) slid up to third, leaving Waison now in fourth, and Ramashamole nowhere to be seen, having dropped at the marathon mark along with Tulu. Seutloali also stopped the race at the 50k mark.

Arthur Jantjies ultimately took the win, finishing in 3:09:25, with a long-legged sprint and much fanfare from the crowds. Onalenna Khonkobe was second in 3:10:00, a little more than 30 seconds behind, and Blessing Waison held on for third in 3:11:13.