THE ROUTES

Map overlay featuring a serpent face with a marked path from Green Point to Noordhoek, highlighting elevations of 2300m, 1200m, and 0m, and distances of 42.2km, 21.1km.

THE COBRA MARATHON

  • Distance Covered: 42.2km

  • Start/Finish: 06h30 Noordhoek/Green Point 17h30

  • Elevation Gain: ~2300m

  • Highest Point: Table Mountain Summit (1087m)

  • Lowest Point: Green Point (~0m)

  • Key Climbs: Spitskop, Dragon’s Spine, Vlakkenberg, Table Mountain, Kasteelspoort, Signal Hill

  • Terrain: Coastal Singletrack, Boulder Fields, Mountain Ridgelines, Jeep Track, Scree, Rocky Descent, Fynbos

  • Aid Stations: 4 Strategically placed

  • Time Limit: 11 Hours (17h30)

  • Cut-offs: Constantia- 11:00am

    GPX FILES WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD SOON

Graphic featuring a snake design overlaid with a yellow line map route from Green Point to Constantia, marked with elevation levels from 0m to 1100m and distances from 0km to 21.1km.

THE COBRA
Half-MARATHON

  • Distance Covered: 21.1km

  • Start/Finish: 09h30 Constantia/Green Point 17h30

  • Elevation Gain: ~1100m

  • Highest Point: Table Mountain Summit (1087m)

  • Lowest Point: Green Point (~0m)

  • Key Climbs: Table Mountain, Kasteelspoort, Signal Hill

  • Terrain: Mountain Ridgelines, Jeep Track, Scree, Rocky Descent, Fynbos, Coastal Trail

  • Aid Stations: 2 Strategically placed

  • Time Limit: 8 Hours (17h30)

    GPX FILES WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD SOON

AT The edge of the world.
THE COBRA MARATHON BEGINS.

Man running on a rocky path with a giant snake sculpture in the background, set in a dramatic landscape during sunset.

The Opening Strike (42k Start Line)

  1. Distance Covered: 0km – 21.1km

  2. Elevation Gain: ~1200m

  3. Key Climbs: Spitskop, Dragon’s Spine, Vlakkenberg

  4. Terrain: Coastal singletrack, boulder fields, mountain ridgelines.

Nestled behind wind-blown dunes and framed by serrated ridgelines, Noordhoek feels like the end of civilisation—and the beginning of something primal. With the Atlantic at their backs, runners charge forward into a coastal crucible. The first few kilometers lure you in. Then Spitskop strikes.

It’s steep. It’s savage. And it sets the tone.

Your legs are still cold. Your heart’s still catching rhythm. As you rise, Noordhoek falls away behind you, unveiling sweeping views of Long Beach, the Atlantic and fleeting glimpses of False Bay.

It’s beautiful. And brutal. Spitskop isn’t just a hill. It’s the gatekeeper of the trail. Conquer it, and the real journey begins.

At the summit, runners catch their breath before dropping into Silvermine. The descent is flowing and fast, your reward for enduring the sting. You dance through Cobra Alley, brushing past proteas as jeep track gives way to rock. Your legs find rhythm… until that rhythm breaks.

Mountain landscape with a rock formation resembling an elephant head, surrounded by mist and dramatic clouds.

At Amphitheatre Path, the view erupts.  Noordhoek Peak on your left.  Silvermine Dam on your right.  And far in the distance? The back of Table Mountain, your destination.

But the Cobra doesn’t care for your awe.

It pulls you onward along the spine of the Cape Fold Mountains, skirting ridges above Ou Kaapse Weg, and into the wilds of Dragon’s Passage, a stretch of flowing singletrack laced with boulder-strewn climbs that sap your legs and sharpen your focus.

A flash of Elephant’s Eye. A silhouette of Constantiaberg Mast. And then, a descent. Technical. Narrow. Twisting.  You drop onto Silvermine Level 4 and 5, but it’s no reprieve. It’s a trap.  Because Vlakkenberg looms next.

Gnarly. Steep. Unforgiving. This is where the trail stops smiling.

You claw your way up scree slopes and shattered rock. Each switchback dares you to stop. Each breath is a battle.  And when you finally summit?  There’s no celebration. No relief.  Only the brutal descent ahead, one that batters your quads and tests your focus on every technical turn.

You have reached Constantia Neck. The halfway point of no return and also the starting line for the Cobra Half-Marathon runners. They have a head start. Think you can catch them. Are you predator? Or Prey?

You’ve Survived the Strike.
Now Endure the Reckoning.

Exhausted male runner sitting on rocky path, wearing athletic gear, with mountainous landscape and cloudy sky in the background.

The Reckoning (COBRA HALF Start Line)

  • Distance Covered: 21.1km – 42.2km

  • Elevation Gain: ~1100m

  • Key Climbs: Table Mountain, Kasteelspoort, Signal Hill

  • Terrain: Alpine ridges, fynbos plains, technical descents

You’ve already bled effort, and now the trail bleeds altitude. The jeep track from the Nek is a psychological and physical crucible. The terrain is runnable- but should you? 

The mountain presses back with quiet force. Do you hold back, conserving for what’s to come? Or do you endure the bite, fight for position and burn what you have left? 

As you cross the Old Iron Bridge, the climb steepens and spirits rise. To your right Cecilia Ravine opens up like a cathedral of stone.  You are near the summit.

Coastal hiking trail with cliffs and ocean view

The climb to Table Mountain is brutal. The plateau, breathtaking. You pass De Villiers Dam and the Overseers’ Cottages, then push along the concrete road past the Alexander and Victoria Reservoirs. Here, the Cobra momentarily coils. You settle into a rhythm again – legs ticking, mind steady.

Crossing between the Hely-Hutchinson Reservoir and Woodhead Reservoir, you enter the haunting silence- the Valley of Isolation. Eyes on the trail, heart in your throat – you half expect the Cobra to strike again.

Then comes the bite: technical single track, winding and narrow, bringing you to the legendary Diving Board. With the Valley of the Red Gods on your right and Camps Bay and Bakoven sprawling below, you’re perched on the spine of the Twelve Apostles. The view is glorious.  

You may think the climb is over.  But the trail still teases. You flirt with cliff edges. Dance across loose rock.  Then comes the plunge.

A person running on a mountain trail with a lion-shaped cloud in the sky.

Kasteelspoort - a steep, technical descent where you race against gravity and time. The city gleams below as you drop towards salvation.

A brief reprieve greets you on the Pipe Track – flowing trail to collect yourself and find your legs again. But it doesn’t last.

You reach Kloof Corner. Table Mountain looms above, watching like a god.  After crossing the M62, a short descent down Kloof Road leads to the final stretch. The tar ends. The trail returns.

You snake below Lion’s Head on the Top Road trails.  To your left, Clifton and the Atlantic Ocean. To your right, Signal Hill rising like the final challenge. The path around Signal Hill is rolling, sharp, and unforgiving. 

Your legs scream. Your chest heaves. But you keep moving - past Fresnaye, Sea Point, Three Anchor Bay – the finish so close you can taste it.

But the Cobra isn’t done. The last lash of the tail: a fast, winding singletrack that spits you out in Green Point, dust-covered, soul shaken – and if you’re lucky, still standing.

A man smiling and holding a Cape Cobra medal with a mountainous backdrop.

You climbed through Silvermine, crawled over Vlakkenberg, bled on Table Mountain’s Spine and rolled down Kasteels.

Unrelenting grit and vertical warfare. Punishing ascents and technical descents with fynbos in your teeth. You’ve earned your place among legends.

This isn’t a trail marathon. It’s a mountain born reckoning.

This is the Cape Cobra Trail Marathon.

See you at the start line.