Let’s be honest, most of us struggle to drag ourselves out for a Sunday 5k. Timothy Heitzwebel, 68, just won a marathon in Madagascar, one week after racing at a world championship event in Cape Town. No big deal.
Heitzwebel, from the United States, crossed the finish line first at the 2026 Madagascar Marathon on Sunday 31st May, completing the Marathon Tours & Travel African Double Challenge, which involves racing both the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon and the Madagascar Marathon on back-to-back weekends.
The Cape Town race wasn’t just any marathon, either. It served as the official AbbottWMM Marathon Tours & Travel Age Group World Championships (AGWC), a seriously competitive global event that brings together the fastest age-group runners in the world, qualified through the Abbott World Marathon Majors series. Heitzwebel raced that, then hopped on a plane to Madagascar and won a marathon. Extraordinary stuff.
He was one of 18 runners who made the journey from Cape Town to Madagascar as part of the challenge. The full list of African Double finishers includes Paul Bultema, Erin Driver, Carole Hoglund, Patricia Mahon, Donald Richardson, Susan Steele, Robbin Jordan, Aaron Braunstein, Troy Tuscher, Masahide Tabuchi, Brannon Smith and Nena Shaheed.
The Madagascar Marathon itself welcomed 57 runners from seven countries including the US, Canada, Denmark, Japan, the Netherlands, the UK and Madagascar. It’s a small field by marathon standards, but that’s very much the point. This isn’t your average city race. Runners pass through landscapes and communities that most people will never see, making it one of the more genuinely unique events on the global calendar.
Four runners made the occasion even more significant by completing their seventh continent in Madagascar, earning entry into the coveted Seven Continents Club®. Jan Nielsen, Lisbeth Staxen, Ashley Palk and Daniel Haight all crossed that particular finish line after achieving the feat of running a half marathon or marathon on every continent.
Jeff Adams, President of Marathon Tours & Travel, summed it up well: “Madagascar offers runners something completely different. It combines the challenge of a marathon with the opportunity to experience a destination that very few people will ever visit. Seeing runners achieve personal milestones, whether that’s completing their seventh continent or taking on the African Challenge, is what makes this event so special.”
Full results from the 2026 event are available here. If you’re eyeing up the 2027 African Double Challenge, more information can be found at marathontours.com.
In this article: Madagascar, Cape Town, United States, Canada, Denmark, Japan, Netherlands, United Kingdom. Generated by Wikidata Schema Link Builder.
