Early March 2026 I heard that there was to be a new nine star medal for those who completed the Abbott World Major Marathons. Sydney was already number six; Cape Town was set to pass stage two in May 2026 and those running it in 2026 would get the 8th star if it did pass; and Shanghai was set to pass stage two in December 2026 to be the ninth race in December 2027.

I’d focused on rowing for the past six years after Covid ended travel for marathons. Craig and I had run New York in November 2019 which completed my six star journey. At that point there was no nine star medal and I thought I was done with marathons.

I’d lost a little of my commitment to rowing in 2025 and was searching for something on which to focus – be it rowing, cycling or running. When I heard there was a new medal I rapidly calculated doing Sydney in August 2026; Cape Town in May 2027 and Shanghai in December 2027 – I would then be one of the first runners in the world to have the nine star medal.

Early one morning at work 3 March 2026 I searched for charity entries for Sydney – applied for a few – was accepted by a few – and went with the first one to get back to me – Beyond Blue. Then I told Craig! Exciting stuff. I had no idea how I could return to running when the most I had done for years was 5km at one time, and even then it had been sometimes months between runs. 

Training for Sydney over 18 weeks was due to commence 29 April 2026. I took the few weeks from March to start to run 5km more often, and then 7km one weekend as my “long run”. Of course I got over excited and tried a tempo run which led to an injury to the tendons in my left ankle, and back I went to 0km running and a bit of walking. So frustrating.

Some wonderful friends then told us they had a major life event planned for May 2027 and wanted us to be part of it. Aware this would likely clash with Cape Town, I started to wonder whether I could pull off the Cape Town Marathon 24 May 2026, leaving us free for the life event next year. 13 April 2026 I made contact with various charities and LUNGevity responded 15 April 2026 with a “Yes”. I was in! I was excited and horrified all at once.

Five weeks to train, including the taper week and the travel week. I had no idea how to attack the training plan and eventually developed it in conjunction with Craig and ChatGPT. I trained five days a week, resting Monday and Friday, with the long run on Sunday, preceded by a longish run on the Saturday. Long runs were 12km, 16km, 20km, 26km, and then 14km at the end of the taper week.

I was terrified of being injured and not being able to complete the run. I calculated the pace per kilometre I needed to maintain to walk the whole thing – 9:15. I had one go at walking that speed and found it very difficult, and decided I would need to be able to run at least 15km before I cut down to walking. I checked the pace Verity and I had done at Wellington and discovered this was around 8:50, which showed we ran about 21km and then walked/ran the rest of it. I wasn’t sure I could do that.

So for four weeks I focussed on restraint, which is incredibly difficult for me. If anyone had told me seven years ago that I would deliberately run at 7 minutes per kilometre, I would have died from embarrassment. Any time in the past when my pace slowed to anything about 6:30 in a marathon I would be plagued by thoughts about how hopeless I was and that I might as well give up now. Here I was trundling along at 7:00 and telling myself this was fine.

I knocked over the training program without missing anything. Each of the long runs I pulled off without stopping, and after completing the 16km run I thought I was in with a chance of finishing the marathon, provided I didn’t get injured. I got a little silly one day and picked up the final kilometre of a 5km run, and paid for it with a sore knee for several days, which I taped up and kept on running, thankful I hadn’t done anything too dramatic and cursing myself for being stupid.

Mother’s Day was the day for the 26km. We had breakfast booked at Emily’s house at 9:30am so I set off at 5am in order to finish in time, which I did. I was really quite pleased at finishing the distance, and my last kilometre was strong.

On the flight from Sydney to Johannesburg the air crew indicated the lady behind me was also taking part in the marathon. I took an opportunity to glance in her direction and discovered it was Christie Dawes – Australian champion wheelchair athlete! I approached her and we chatted for a time – it was her final race prior to retiring from competition. What a thrill to meet her.

We flew to Cape Town via Johannesburg, and stayed on the V&A Waterfront which was where the race started and finished. Task one was to walk to the Marathon Expo and collect the race bib. There were runners everywhere. I had forgotten what a lively atmosphere there is around these large scale events -we had already spoken with several on the flight from Johannesburg, and then it was fairly easy to pick a runner from any crowd.

I had a 5km run the following day, running around the waterfront, which went well. There were heaps of runners out and about. Of course I got lost a couple of times, but people were super friendly and showed me where to go.

Race morning was, like the days preceding, misty. There had been significant cloud over the city for several days and we had worn spray jackets while walking around. The forecast was for similar and I was fairly pleased the temperature was to peak at 19 Celsius, although I was a little worried about getting blisters if my feet got wet in the rain while running.

We had to walk to the start prior to 7:30am as the roads were closing for the commencement of the wheelchair event. My start time was 8:40am and we sat near the start corrals watching all the people. There were multiple men who walked into the gardens opposite us to urinate which was pretty disgusting. Around 7:55am I walked into the start area to queue for the portaloos – this ended up being a very long wait and I didn’t get back to Craig until 8:15am by which time he was beside himself thinking something had happened to me.

I had been very anxious prior to getting to the event but had eventually agreed to have a cup of coffee – my first caffeine in months, and worried it would make me even more anxious. Craig thought it would be helpful so I just followed the advice.

I threw the tape onto my knee, packed the gels into my run tights, kissed Craig goodbye and dived into the starting chute. It was not long after we moved to the actual start, and right on time, off we went. I looked for Craig at a few places but missed him in the crowd.

I set out running sensibly – running the first 5km around 6:30 and then settled in at 7:00. I had a plan to have a gel each 5km, and water stations were every 3km. The gels I take are fairly watery, so it was all good having one at 5km and then waiting the additional kilometre for the water. The weather was a lot clearer than expected, giving good views of the mountains around the city.

I held 7-7:30 until 30km. I knew I could get to 26km without stopping, and then just kept going. My feet were hurting quite a bit by 30km and this was the major hill of the race, up through the Company Gardens in the city itself. This had come immediately after a long few kilometres running north into the sun – it was actually hot although looking at the spectators wearing jackets I knew it was not too bad. I discovered later I got quite sunburnt and was pleased I’d worn sunscreen on my face.

Walking through the Company Gardens I phoned Craig. He had been sending uplifting texts to me each 5km, and the children had also sent some messages I could read on my Garmin watch. We talked for 2km while I walked and then I set off running again, with a short comfort stop at one point.

The last 10km I ran around 7:20-7:50 min. I saw Craig at 35km in an underpass, and then hit the coast where the course went along the beach area to a roundabout before doubling back to the finish. The way out was of course a bit of a slog. Most people were walking, but I kept doggedly moving forward, willing the roundabout to turn up, which it eventually did at 39km. 

Last 3km I decided to have a few mouthfuls of Coke from the aid stations. I had in mind to try to run the last kilometre more quickly, and picked up the speed, finishing that kilometre at 6:31pace – fastest for the whole run. Craig was at the finish line which was excellent. Race completed in 5 hours 18 minutes – I was thrilled.

Moving through the finish I collected the medal, had the photo, took some water and some chocolate milk, found Craig, and we walked back to the hotel. Job done.

I thought the marathon was really well organised. The course was nice – 21km uphill, 20km downhill, and 1km flat. Aid stations were well stocked and there were heaps of volunteers. One man was calling out “We are with you” at an aid station, which I thought was lovely. There were also ample places for spectators, many with signs they had made up at the expo, such as “Smile if you’re not wearing undies” and “Never trust a fart”.

I didn’t check a bag so the text everyone received apologising for the long queues at the end of the race didn’t mean much to me. The toilet queues were long, but no longer than other events I’ve done, and what stood out was that there were multiple volunteers cleaning the toilets and restocking them after each use – slowed things down a little bit but oh so much more hygienic and pleasant.

In relation to my attitude on this occasion – it was a major shift for me to make, and doing so made a huge difference. As I said, previously I’d have been so cranky with myself for running so slowly. On this occasion I had a target to finish the event un under 6 hours 30 minutes (the cutoff). My training plan allowed for this and I guess I was pleased to come in almost 1 hour 15 minutes faster than the original plan. It showed me I could still do this and to be honest, I enjoyed the event a heap better than I have done in the past. Despite the slower pace, the kilometres essentially flew by at times – likely because I wasn’t stressing myself too much and the mantra inside my head was “just keep moving forward”. I can’t believe I ran all but 2km of the 42km. It’s made me rethink all of the time I’ve spent training for these things in the past – who needs 18 weeks!

The announcement came about three weeks later that the marathon had passed the test to become a World Major – woo hoo – seven stars done now. Roll on Sydney!

Sanlam Cape Town Marathon was #29.