Course & Elevation
The Soweto Marathon, nicknamed the People's Race, is a road race through the township of Soweto in Johannesburg, first run in 1991. It is held on a Sunday in November and offers a 42.2 km marathon, a 21.1 km half marathon and a 10 km run on the same day. The race starts at the Nasrec Expo Centre and finishes at FNB Stadium. From Nasrec the route comes down Rand Show Road into the township, and by the 10 km mark it passes Walter Sisulu Square. Most of the hard work comes after halfway: the second half of the course winds and climbs through Vilakazi Street, the street that was home to both Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu, and passes the Hector Pieterson Museum and Memorial, which commemorates the 1976 student uprising. Press reports describe the route as undulating and challenging rather than fast. The women's course record is 2:33:43, set by Irvette van Zyl in 2018, and the men's is 2:16:28, set by Shadrack Kipchirchir in 2012. The most recent edition was held on 29 November 2025. The organiser's website states there is no event in 2026, so entries are not open.
Course Facts
Weather
Typical climate for the race month — an estimate, not a forecast or a race-day record
18°C
Temperature
65%
Humidity
35%
Rain Chance
November in Johannesburg is late spring: afternoon highs average about 25°C, mornings about 13°C, and rain of 1 mm or more falls on around ten days of the month.
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