Runner's Guide to Two Oceans Marathon Ultra (20+) and Half (16+) 2027

Both races are run under Athletics South Africa (ASA) rules, which set minimum ages for road races based on your age on race day (ASA Rule 23.4):

• Half Marathon (21.1km): at least 16.
• Ultra Marathon (56km): at least 20.

The Half Marathon prize list includes an Age 16-19 category. In both races, age-category prizes start at 40-49 and go up in 10-year groups to 70+.

Every Ultra entrant must run and submit a qualifying marathon or longer race within the qualifying window: 1 May 2026 to 7 March 2027.

What counts: any standard World Athletics-affiliated marathon, or race longer than 42.2km, that is officially measured and officially timed (gun-to-mat or mat-to-mat). If your race isn't listed on the TTOM entry system, email the race office to have it added, then submit it on your profile.

Your qualifying time also decides your start batch.

No qualifier is needed for the Half, but you must submit a seeding time from an official 10km, 15km or 21.1km race so you're put in the right batch.

• Deadline: submit or update it on the TTOM entry system by 28 February 2027.
• A full marathon time can be used only if that race had timing mats at the 10km or 21km point.
• parkrun times are not accepted, because parkrun isn't an officially timed race over a measured 10km, 15km or 21km route.
• Two Oceans asks runners to be honest so everyone is seeded correctly.

• Seeding: your Ultra qualifying time, or your Half seeding time, decides your start batch, so runners of similar pace start together.
• No moving up: you can't change your seeding. Starting in an earlier batch than allocated, or jumping a batch, means disqualification.
• Moving back is allowed: you may drop to a later batch, but your time then runs from that batch's gun.
• Official time is gun-to-mat for your batch: your time starts when your batch's gun goes. Net (mat-to-mat) times are published for reference only; only gun-to-mat times count in the official results.
• Medal times are also based on your batch's gun time.
• The Ultra starts in batches from 06:00 and the Half from 07:00, on Newlands Main Road. Arrive early: runners not in their chute in time are moved to the back.

• The time-of-day cut-off is set by when the last batch starts, so it applies to every runner at the same clock time, whichever batch you started in.
• If the start is delayed, all cut-offs move accordingly.
• There are also cut-offs along the route so roads can reopen safely and on schedule, and so officials can withdraw runners who won't make the next cut-off or the finish.
• Two Oceans warns that cut-offs are not pacing guides: runners who pace to them risk missing later cut-offs.

If Chapman's Peak Drive can't be used, the Ultra is diverted over Ou Kaapse Weg, decided before or during the race.

Ultra Marathon: South African runners, and non-South Africans living or working in South Africa, must belong to an official running club and hold a permanent ASA licence. Only Rest of Africa and International runners who don't live or work in South Africa are exempt. (Under ASA rules, temporary licences can't be sold to local runners for ultra-marathons.)

Half Marathon: you can enter without a club. Unlicensed South Africans pay the same entry fee as licensed runners (R450) plus an ASA temporary licence fee of R95. If you later join a club and get a licence number, the temporary licence fee isn't refunded; update your TTOM profile with your club and licence details.

Insurance: the ASA temporary licence includes no insurance. Two Oceans strongly encourages runners to join a club and be fully licensed. Temporary-licensed runners can't count for team prizes.

2027 South African Ultra entry for licensed runners is R840.

Club kit:

• Ultra: all South African runners must wear their official club kit.
• Half: club members must wear club kit to count for team prizes. Temporary-licensed runners may wear the official Half Marathon T-shirt or a plain, unbranded T-shirt or vest.
• International runners may wear their club colours or a shirt showing their nationality.
• Race-day clothing must comply with the relevant advertising rules.

Race numbers:

• Wear your TTOM race numbers unaltered, on the front and back of your vest or top at all times. They may not be pinned to your shorts.
• Each number has a disposable timing chip. Don't bend or fold it, or cover it with hydration pack straps or clothing. Without a working chip you get no official time, position or prize eligibility.

Team prizes: under ASA rules, team members must be South African citizens running in their registered club colours, and clubs must tell the organisers if any of their runners aren't eligible.

• Headphones and earphones: not allowed, for safety reasons, including out-of-ear bone-conduction headphones. Runners using them may be disqualified. (This matches ASA's road running rule, under which headphone users also lose eligibility for prizes.)
• Strollers and prams: not permitted.
• Wheelchairs: push-rim racing wheelchairs can't be accommodated. Duo (assisted, pushed) chairs are welcome as defined in ASA rules; wheelchair athletes and their assistants must apply to the race office for the right seeding.
• Hydration packs: allowed, as long as they don't cover your race number front or back.

No. Two Oceans does not allow upgrades or downgrades between the Ultra and the Half under any circumstances, and your entry can only be used for the distance you entered.

The only way to change events is through the official substitution process: substitute out of your current race, then substitute into the other race if a substitution entry is available. Substitutions are like-for-like by distance and residence category, and Ultra substitutes need a qualifier (and, for South Africans, club membership).

For 2027, substitutions open 16 November 2026 and close 10 March 2027, through the TTOM online entry system only.

• Like-for-like only: South African for South African, Rest of Africa for Rest of Africa, International for International, and the same distance (a Half entry can only go to another Half runner).
• You find your own substitute, or make your voucher public on the "Available Substitutions" list. The new runner has 24 hours to pay.
• The substitute pays the original entry fee plus a R210 substitution fee. No money may change hands between runners; your refund is processed after the substitute has paid.
• Substitutes into the Ultra must have a qualifier, and South African substitutes must also belong to an athletics club.
• If nobody takes your entry, it stays yours.
• Handing your race number to someone else outside this process is strictly prohibited and leads to disciplinary action against both runners, which may include a ban from future events.