It was another step along Barry Dolman’s epic Abbott World Marathon Majors Age Group World Championships adventure as he took on Cape Town Marathon
Just nine weeks after producing the performance of his life at the Barcelona Marathon, Barry Dolman demonstrated that his remarkable improvement is no flash in the pan with another outstanding display on the international stage at the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon.
Barry’s superb personal best of 2:48:32 in Barcelona not only smashed his previous best but also propelled him to 134th in the Abbott World Marathon Majors Age Group World Rankings, leaving him firmly in contention for qualification to next spring’s Age Group World Championships showdown in Tokyo.
That Barcelona breakthrough capped a superb spell of form which had already seen Barry claim the bronze medal in the M55 category at the 2026 British Masters 10k Championships in Chichester. His time of 35:49 highlighted just how dramatically he has progressed across every distance over the past couple of years.
Cape Town did not disappoint in any way for Barry
Cape Town represented another exciting milestone. The South African race joins the Abbott World Marathon Majors programme from next year, making it an increasingly prestigious addition to the marathon calendar, while this year’s event also hosted the Abbott World Marathon Majors Age Group World Championships.
Barry travelled to South Africa with wife Sally for what proved to be an unforgettable experience.
“It was really good,” said Barry. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been to Africa and it was the first time for Sally. It is an amazing place and leaves a huge impression on you. The people and the country are amazing.”
The Age Group World Championship competitors were treated to a concert on the Friday night
Being part of the World Age Group Championships brought an extra dimension to the weekend.
“We had a group photo, concert and dinner on the Friday night in the stadium with a South African choir. Eliud Kipchoge spoke to us all before the concert, which was surreal.”
Although delighted with his preparation, Barry admitted he didn’t quite feel as sharp as he had before Barcelona.
Cape Town was celebrating being confirmed as one of the Abbott World Marathon Majors
“I had about nine weeks between marathons, which was okay, but I certainly didn’t feel as good as I did entering Barcelona. I knew matching Barcelona was going to be super tough as that course is so flat and Cape Town is a little like New York with a lot of undulation.”
Having run a huge negative split in Barcelona, Barry opted for a different approach.
The breath-taking setting for the Cape Town Marathon
“At Barcelona I went through halfway in 1:26:30, so I was aiming for about a minute quicker than that. I felt good and didn’t think I was pushing too hard but was surprised when I went through halfway in 1:24:20.”
A view of Table Mountain in Cape Town
The statistics underline just how confidently Barry approached the race. He opened with a controlled 20:42 for the opening 5km before reaching 10km in 40:48. From there he gradually increased the pace, running consistently between 6:10 and 6:20 per mile through the middle section as he positioned himself for another fast finish.
The Cape Town Marathon festivities were in full flow
However, Cape Town’s reputation as a testing course soon became apparent.
“I knew there was a pretty big hill at 31 kilometres that was approximately one kilometre long and sure enough that was nasty and cooked my legs after all the other ups and downs.”
The Age Group World Championship competitors had a talk from Eliud Kipchoge
Barry’s pace briefly slipped to 6:44 for the climb before he immediately responded with a rapid 6:18 downhill mile. Even with tired legs, he maintained impressive consistency over the closing stages, averaging around 6:33 per mile to bring himself home in an excellent 2:50:09.
The performance saw Barry finish an outstanding 353rd overall from a field of 18,525 runners while placing 47th from 2,444 competitors in the 50-59 age category.
Barry decided to go for a more evenly paced approach as opposed to a negative split
Even more impressively, Barry finished 11th in the highly competitive M55-59 division for the Abbott World Marathon Majors Age Group World Championships. American Robert Ashby claimed victory in 2:38:57, but Barry was the leading British athlete in the category, finishing ahead of Christo Oosthuizen (2:51:42) and Michael Morris (2:52:17).
Barry kept a close eye on his watch as he made his way through
Despite narrowly missing another sub-2:50 performance, Barry was delighted with what he achieved.
“It was my fastest Major by over three minutes and I think if it had been flat, I wouldn’t have been too far off the Barcelona time, so I’m very happy overall.”
Attention now turns towards another major target later this year.
“I want to get a really good block in for Chicago and go for it again.”
There was also one eye firmly fixed on Japan.
Barry was well pleased with the performance he put in
“I haven’t got a confirmed entry yet for Tokyo World Age next year, but I’ve booked my flights,” Barry laughed. “I stand a pretty good chance of qualifying with my time from Barcelona, so I have everything crossed. That would complete the original six Majors if I can get an entry. Otherwise we’ll have a nice holiday in Japan!”
Barry also returned with one particularly memorable observation from the South African aid stations.
Barry shows off his new bits of well earned bling
“Instead of having Gatorade or Lucozade, in South Africa they used full-fat Coke! I don’t drink any of that during the marathon anyway, but it made me smile.”
And, true to form, there was one final highlight.
Barry’s Age Group World Championships medal
“The merch was really good. It was Adidas, who always do a cracking job. Wasn’t much left for others after I’d finished!”
Barry wasn’t the only Dorset athlete to produce a headline-making performance in Cape Town. Poole Runners’ Penny Jarvis delivered an astonishing run to set a new British V75 marathon record of 3:57:13, winning the F75-79 title at the Age Group World Championships. Barry admitted afterwards that he was more than a little envious of Penny’s gold medal.
Barry’s Cape Town Marathon medal
Having followed up his Barcelona breakthrough with another marathon of genuine quality on one of the world’s tougher major-calibre courses, Barry’s remarkable rise shows every sign of continuing.
The souvenirs will stay with Barry, as will the memories
Since returning from South Africa, Barry has received the good news he was hoping for. His place at next spring’s Abbott World Marathon Majors Age Group World Championships in Tokyo has now been officially confirmed, while he currently sits 162nd in the Abbott World Marathon Majors World Rankings for the M55-59 age group. With Chicago still to come later this year, the Bournemouth AC veteran has every opportunity to continue climbing the rankings as his remarkable marathon journey goes from strength to strength.