When the 2025 Sanlam Cape Town Marathon was cancelled in the early hours of Sunday morning due to dangerously high winds, Woolworths, who claimed to be the official food sponsor, quickly shifted gears to ensure that thousands of kilogrammes of fresh produce did not go to waste.

The retailer had prepared to feed 24,000 runners at the halfway mark and finish line.

Within hours of the race being called off, Woolworths’ team coordinated the collection of the food by 18 charities across Cape Town. By 10am, all the produce had been redistributed to communities in need.

In a statement released on Monday, Woolworths said it had organised 26,000 bananas, 20,000 clemengolds, 280kg of potatoes, 10kg of dried fruit, 5,000 apples, 4,800 dates, 1,800 sandwiches and 600 hot cross buns.

“In light of the event’s cancellation, we acted quickly to make sure no food went to waste. Instead of fuelling runners, this food is now helping to feed communities in need,” the company said in a statement.

The marathon, which was set to start at 6:15am on Sunday, was officially cancelled at 4:45am following emergency consultations between the race organising team and the Joint Operations Committee (JOC). Organisers said that both the route and start/finish venue were deemed unsafe due to infrastructure damage caused by strong overnight winds.

“Both the route and start and finish venue were deemed unsafe for runners and spectators, and the difficult decision was taken to ensure the safety of everybody at the event,” organisers said.

For many participants, the cancellation came as a blow after months of training. Some runners took to the Sea Point Promenade to run unofficially, while others expressed their frustration online.

Cultural Affairs and Sports MEC Ricardo Mackenzie also shared his disappointment, saying it had been set to be his first marathon. “People budgeted, trained and planned for this day. The emotional impact is harder to recover from than the financial,” he said.

Title sponsor Sanlam announced that all 2025 marathon entrants would receive a sponsored entry for either the 2026 or 2027 race, regardless of the outcome of Cape Town Marathon’s bid to become Africa’s first Abbott World Marathon Majors event.

Sanlam Group CEO Paul Hanratty said the company remained confident in the event’s future: “When faced with adversity, Africans unite. We find a way to create opportunity out of adversity, in spite of all obstacles and challenges.”

IOL

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