The Knysna Forest Marathon is held annually during the Pick ‘n Pay Knysna Oyster Festival and takes place on 09 July. Participants can choose between the 42.2km full marathon or the 21.1km half marathon and entries are limited to 1000 runners for the full marathon and 5500 for the half marathon, plus all proceeds go to two great charities; the Knysna Red Cross and Epilepsy SA.
The half-marathon course is demanding, hilly and beautiful and the race starts in the forest with a testing 3km climb and then levels out with the rest of the route being fairly rolling. The notorious Simola downhill is also testing, but the last 6kms is basically flat. The cut-off time for the 21.1 km is 3h30min.
The full marathon course is also tough, hilly and beautiful too and starts at the same place as the half marathon, but runs in the opposite direction. The first 12km is uphill but levels out towards the halfway mark. The last 10km take are downhill and as you climb the other side of the gorge it becomes more challenging. The Simola hill descent once again is tough, but after that the last 6kms are flat all the way to the finish at Loerie Park. The cut-off time for the 42.2 km is 5h30min.
