HOKA HALF Stellenbosch 2026 is a 21.1 km race on Saturday 14 November, starting at 06:00 at Van der Stel Sports Club, Stellenbosch. The course climbs about 325 m in total.
The HOKA HALF's road-run party comes back to Stellenbosch: from Van der Stel Sports Club past the Braak and through Coetzenburg, out along Jonkershoek Road and up Helshoogte Road to 372 metres, down the old pass road into Idas Valley and home past the university and along Dorp Street. 325 metres of climbing, nearly all of it in one hill.
21.1 km at 06:00, in batches. Van der Stel Sports Club, Du Toit Street, Stellenbosch. New venue for 2026
It climbs about 325 m in total. The highest point is 372 m above sea level, at km 10.8.
Six water points in 2025, about every 3 km; the spots shown are 2025's
km 3.6 · 7.7 · 10.9 · 14.2 · 16.3 · 20.2
Where they were in 2025; 2026 not published yet
Online on Entry Ninja until 9 November, 23:00; no race-day entries. 21.1 km R469, age 16 and over. Temporary licence R70 if you are not in a club
Not published yet for 2026. This flyover runs the official 2025 course from the new venue; check the race guide on hokahalf.co.za before race day
Tog bags at the venue. Entry includes HOKA HALF socks, a medal and a R1,000 HOKA shoe voucher. Live music, beer garden and food at the RunFest
06:00 · km 0
New this year: the start, finish and RunFest move to Van der Stel Sports Club, a club more than a century old, on the western edge of the old town. In 2025 the race started at Eikestad Primary in Die Boord, and 2,584 runners finished the 21.1 km. The organiser has not published the 2026 route yet, so this flyover runs the official 2025 course from the new venue; when the 2026 route is out, the tour will follow it. The half starts at 06:00, in batches, about half an hour after sunrise.
km 0.2 to 0.7 · Alexander and Mill Street
Along Alexander Street beside the Braak, the old town square, used for military drills from 1703 or earlier. On it stand the VOC Kruithuis, the Dutch East India Company's powder magazine, finished in 1777 and the only one of its kind left in the country, St Mary's on the Braak (1852) and the Rhenish Church (1823). Then down Mill Street, named after the town's water mill: De Nieuwe Molen was built here in 1749, south of the Braak.
km 1.0 to 3.2 · Piet Retief Street and Coetzenburg
Down Piet Retief Street and over the Eerste River, along Park Street and through Coetzenburg, Stellenbosch University's sports grounds, then back over the river onto Die Laan at km 3.2. Simon van der Stel granted the land to Dirk Coetsee in 1682; the Marais family owned it from 1833 until the university bought it in 1960. The Danie Craven rugby stadium here (1979) holds 16,000. In 2025 there was a hype zone at about km 2.2. This first stretch is flat, between 108 and 122 metres.
km 3.2 to 6.5 · Jonkershoek Road
Up Die Laan and Van Riebeeck Street, past the first water point, and east along Jonkershoek Road, with the Eerste River on your right and the Jonkershoek mountains ahead. The river rises at the head of that valley and runs about 40 km to False Bay; the valley is said to be named after Jan Andriessen, a bachelor known as Jan de Jonkheer. Then left through Morkel, Martinson and Simonsberg Street to the foot of Helshoogte Road. The road rises gently, from 122 metres at km 3.2 to 146 at km 6.5.
km 6.5 to 10.8 · Helshoogte Road
Right onto Helshoogte Road, the R310, the pass over the saddle between the Simonsberg and the Jonkershoek mountains to Pniel and the Drakenstein valley. The name means hell's heights. The course climbs 226 metres in 4.3 km, from 146 metres to 372, the top of the course. The steepest part comes early, between km 7 and 8, where the road rises about 7 metres in every hundred; after that it eases to about 5 in a hundred, between vineyards, with Stellenbosch dropping away behind you. In 2025 there was a water point at about km 7.7 and two hype zones higher up.
km 10.8 · 372 m
The top of the course, 372 metres above the sea, just past halfway, where the course leaves Helshoogte Road for the old road over the pass, between the Tokara and Delaire Graff wine farms, with a water point just over the top. Delaire Graff sits on Botmaskop; the estate says the peak was once Bootmanskop, the boatman's peak, because lookouts up here could see ships sailing into Table Bay.
km 10.8 to 15.1 · Ou Helshoogte Road
Down Ou Helshoogte Road, the old Helshoogte road, past Idasvallei Dam, one of Stellenbosch's water supplies, at about km 13: 170 metres down in 4.3 km, from 372 metres at the top to about 200 at the bottom. In 2025 there was a water point at about km 14.2.
km 15.1 to 17.6 · Idas Valley
Through Idas Valley on Gorridon, Bloemkom and Lelie Street, still gently downhill, from about 200 metres to 134, with a water point at about km 16.3 in 2025. Simon van der Stel granted the first farm here to the Huguenot François Villion in the early 1680s, and the valley's farms are a national heritage site. Between 1964 and 1970, under apartheid, families from Die Vlakte in the town centre were forcibly moved here. Who Ida was, nobody knows for sure.
km 17.6 to 19.6 · Cluver Road and Victoria Street
Along Cluver Road and Marais Road and west on Victoria Street, through Stellenbosch University, almost flat at about 120 to 130 metres. In 2025 the Party Lane was here on Victoria Street, at about km 18.8: a DJ-powered detour through a hype zone that counts as part of the distance, with the Fast Lane as the straight way through. Watch for the split. The university grew out of Victoria College, named after Queen Victoria in 1887, and became a university in 1918.
km 19.6 to 20.4 · Ryneveld and Dorp Street
Left down Ryneveld Street, past the Ou Hoofgebou, Victoria College's main building from 1886, and the Village Museum, whose Schreuderhuis (1709) is the oldest documented town house in South Africa. The Moederkerk is a block to your left: its congregation, from 1686, is the second oldest of the Dutch Reformed Church in the country. Then right into Dorp Street under the oaks that gave Stellenbosch its nickname, Eikestad, with the last water point at about km 20.2 in 2025. Stellenbosch is the second-oldest town in South Africa, and Dorp Street was its wagon road to the Cape.
km 20.4 to 21.1 · Mill and Alexander Street
Right up Mill Street, left along the Braak on Alexander Street and into Van der Stel Sports Club for the finish and the RunFest, with live music, a beer garden and food. In 2025 Jacques du Plessis won the 21.1 km in 1:10:42 and Danél Louw of Paarl AC won the women's race in 1:20:09. Every finisher gets a medal, and every entry comes with HOKA HALF socks and a R1,000 HOKA shoe voucher.
Route: the organiser's official 2025 route (Sportify Group on Strava) and a runner's 2025 race-day track (Ride with GPS), which agree within 30 metres, matched to OpenStreetMap, with the start and finish moved by the shortest roads to the 2026 venue at Van der Stel Sports Club. The 2026 route is not published yet. Water points and the Party Lane: the 2025 route. Date, venue, start time and entries: hokahalf.co.za and Entry Ninja