Two very different races. Here's every stat, side by side, to help you pick.
Indicative — based on GPX data. Both courses normalised to start at 0m.
✓ marks the better number on that stat.
The two newest World Marathon Majors are also two of the hardest. Sydney climbs 313m over the Harbour Bridge and around the Opera House; Cape Town climbs 265m along the coast beneath Table Mountain. Course records reflect the difference at the margins — Sydney's 2:06:06 against Cape Town's 2:04:55 — but both are genuinely tougher terrain than almost anything else on the Majors calendar.
Both run as ballot-entry races with fields far smaller than the older Majors (Sydney around 33,000, Cape Town around 18,500), giving each a more intimate feel. The choice comes down to scenery and season: Sydney's late-August date and Harbour Bridge crossing against Cape Town's May date and mountain backdrop. Neither is the course to pick for a flat PB — both reward runners who want a Major with real elevation and a genuinely spectacular finish.