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[ Wire ] · Dispatch · Aug 05

Sydney vs Cape Town: The Two Newest Marathon Majors Compared

Sydney and Cape Town are the two newest Abbott World Marathon Majors, and they could not be more different at the ballot stage. Sydney publishes how many people entered its ballot, 123,000-plus for 2026, but not what share got in. Cape Town has run two ballots since becoming the eighth Major and released an acceptance rate for neither.

How do their ballots compare?

Both are random-draw ballots, not open registration, a distinction worth repeating since it trips people up for both races. Sydney's 2026 ballot drew a record 123,000-plus applications for a 40,000-place field, up 56% year over year, though the organisers did not publish an acceptance rate. Cape Town's 2027 ballot ran June 10 to 24, 2026, with results emailed June 26, but Sanlam and the local organising committee have not released how many people applied, how many spots were awarded, or what share got in, for that ballot or the 2026 one before it.

What does each cost?

Sydney charges AU$285 for Australian and New Zealand residents and AU$340 for international entrants if the ballot succeeds, plus a mandatory carbon levy (official FAQ), plus an AU$1,500+ minimum for anyone entering through an official charity partner instead. Cape Town flips the model: applying costs a non-refundable R5 (about $0.30), donated to a race-linked charity, with the real race fee only charged if the draw picks you. The R5 figure is the one number Cape Town publishes at the ballot stage, and it is a genuinely unusual approach among the Majors.

Which has the bigger field, and where do they run?

Sydney's field is larger, 40,000 to Cape Town's 27,000. The courses differ just as much: Sydney is a point-to-point route from Milsons Point to the Sydney Opera House with a rolling profile and a climb through Kings Cross, typically 10 to 18°C on race morning. Cape Town loops out from Green Point through the City Bowl and southern suburbs, with one sustained climb near UCT around kilometre 25 before a flat final 10K along the Sea Point promenade, usually 13 to 20°C. Cape Town's course is also fast: the 2026 edition produced a 2:04:55 winning time, the quickest marathon ever run on African soil.

When does each race run?

Cape Town runs first on Sunday, May 23, 2027, its first edition as a confirmed Major rather than a candidate. Sydney follows on Sunday, August 29, 2027. Its general ballot opens September 29 and closes October 19, 2026.

So which is actually easier to get into?

On the numbers that exist, probably Sydney: 123,000-plus entries for a 40,000-finisher target caps its odds at about one in three. But that comparison is incomplete by design: Cape Town has never revealed its odds, and two-thirds of its field stays reserved for African-passport runners, which shapes the odds for everyone else in ways nobody outside the organisation can currently quantify. Sydney's demand is also trending the wrong way, with entries up 56% in a year as international interest climbs after Major status. Anyone weighing both races can model an estimated rate with the Marathon Ballot Simulator; neither race has an official rate to model.

Full ballot histories sit on each race's own page: Sydney and its 2026 results, and Cape Town and its 2027 ballot. Free email alerts cover both, one race per account on the free plan.

Sources: TCS Sydney Marathon 2027 ballot, Sanlam Cape Town Marathon FAQ

Sources TCS Sydney Marathon, Sanlam Cape Town Marathon Sydney ballot figures (123,000-plus entries, a field targeting 40,000 finishers, no published acceptance rate) from tcssydneymarathon.com. Sydney's 2027 race and ballot dates were announced after the 2026 race. Cape Town figures come from capetownmarathon.com/faq and this site's Cape Town ballot history for the 2026 and 2027 ballots; the organisers have not published an application count or acceptance rate for either.