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Welcome to Silicon Overdrive!

Two Oceans Marathon – Modernizing a South African Sporting Legacy

About the Customer

The Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon, often referred to as “the world’s most beautiful marathon,” is one of South Africa’s most iconic sporting events and a cornerstone of the nation’s athletic heritage. Each year, thousands of runners from around the world dedicate months to training and running qualifying marathons to earn a chance to participate in one of its three distinguished races — the Trail Run, Half Marathon, or Ultra Marathon. In addition, there is also the much loved Cape Town International Friendship Run for international participants and their family and friends.

As a global event that celebrates endurance, diversity, and community, the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon’s digital presence plays a vital role in connecting athletes and supporters to essential race information, registration details, and event updates. The website serves as a key touchpoint for engagement and communication, both locally and internationally.

The Challenge

Overview

The Two Oceans Marathon team approached Silicon Overdrive, an AWS Premier Tier Partner, after encountering recurring issues with their existing website and hosting infrastructure. Users were experiencing intermittent white screen errors caused by backend instability, while performance and scalability were no longer meeting the growing demands of the global running community.

What The Technical Audit Revealed

A technical audit revealed that the AWS environment supporting the site was outdated. The legacy infrastructure relied on a Classic Load Balancer and older instance types that were unable to scale efficiently during spikes in traffic, particularly around major event milestones such as race entries and results announcements. Additionally, the database was running an outdated version of Amazon RDS, which necessitated an upgrade to a newer, more secure, and more performant version.

Outdated Look-and-feel & Functionality

Beyond the infrastructure challenges, the website itself had become dated and no longer aligned with the expectations of a modern international race brand. The navigational structure was complex and the mobile experience inconsistent. The Two Oceans Marathon team sought a complete rebuild, one that could rival top global marathon sites in terms of appearance, performance, and usability.

Tight Timeframes

Adding to the complexity of the project was the fact that race entries for the 2026 event were set to open in a matter of weeks. Accordingly, the project required an accelerated turnaround, necessitating the redeployment and rebuilding of both the infrastructure and the website in record time.

Previous Home Page Design
Previous Home Page Design

The Solution

Multi-Departmental Collaboration

Silicon Overdrive’s AWS, WordPress, and Software teams collaborated closely to deliver a comprehensive solution that addressed both the technical and experiential goals of the project. The approach involved redeploying the AWS environment to best-practice standards and rebuilding the entire website from scratch.

Infrastructure Overhaul & More Attuned Architecture

On the infrastructure side, Silicon Overdrive redeployed the workload using a new AWS Application Load Balancer, modern instance types, and an upgraded RDS database to ensure better performance, reliability, and scalability. Security and monitoring were enhanced through the implementation of AWS WAF, GuardDuty, and CloudTrail. At the same time, high availability and fault tolerance were built into the architecture to ensure uptime during critical periods. Amazon CloudFront was also configured to provide faster global content delivery, significantly improving page load times for international users. The team applied provisioned IOPS for Amazon EFS, ensuring consistent performance under heavy loads and during periods of high concurrency.

In parallel, the WordPress and software development teams rebuilt the website with a renewed focus on user experience and accessibility. The new design adopted a clean, modern look that visually reflects the beauty and prestige of the marathon itself. The navigation structure was redesigned to ensure that users could reach essential information, such as entry details, race-day logistics, or results, in as few clicks as possible.

The User Experience was Top of Mind

To better serve different audience segments, dedicated menus were created for runners and supporters, each offering a curated pathway to the information most relevant to their needs. The new layout and page hierarchy reduced friction and improved overall usability, particularly for mobile users who make up a large portion of the event’s audience.

An essential enhancement to the new site was the introduction of a WhatsApp communication channel. This feature provides an additional layer of support, enabling users to quickly access information and event assistance directly from their devices. By establishing this direct line of communication, the Two Oceans Marathon team can enhance engagement, streamline support, and make information more accessible in real-time.

The project required seamless coordination between Silicon Overdrive’s technical and creative teams, with the AWS environment being redeployed and the website simultaneously developed to meet the client’s launch timeline.

The Outcome

The collaboration between Silicon Overdrive and the Two Oceans Marathon teams led to a comprehensive transformation of both the technical foundation and the user experience of the Two Oceans Marathon website. The new environment adheres to AWS best practices, ensuring scalability, stability, and security. At the same time, the redesigned website delivers a modern, intuitive, and visually engaging experience that aligns with the prestige of the event.

Two-Week Turnaround

From initial discussions to design mockups and final deployment, the entire project was completed in under two weeks. This swift turnaround was made possible through close collaboration between the client and Silicon Overdrive’s AWS, WordPress, and Software Engineering teams, supported by clear communication and an aligned vision of the desired outcome.

Robust Infrastructure Put in Place

The newly redeployed AWS infrastructure provides improved uptime and faster performance during peak traffic periods, supported by the implementation of CloudFront and high-availability configurations. Security was strengthened across the environment through the deployment of AWS WAF, GuardDuty, and CloudTrail, while the updated RDS database and modern instance types deliver greater reliability and efficiency.

Greatly Enhanced User Experience

From a user experience perspective, the website’s simplified navigation and clear content hierarchy make it easy for both runners and supporters to find what they need quickly, whether accessing event details, results, or news updates. The integration of WhatsApp as an additional communication channel enhances user engagement and provides immediate access to assistance and updates, further improving satisfaction and trust in the platform.

Despite the project’s accelerated schedule, the new website was completed and launched ahead of the 2026 race entries opening, providing a stable, high-performance platform for the event’s global audience. The result is a website that not only meets modern technical standards but also reflects the heritage, energy, and prestige of one of South Africa’s most beloved sporting events.

Chairperson of the Two Oceans Marathon NPC Chris Goldschmidt, said: “Building a new Two Oceans Marathon website in under two weeks with the design and bespoke functionality required to a tight two-week timeframe presented a challenge that Silicon Overdrive met superbly without flinching at the scope. We provided the blueprint, while Silicon implemented the kind of navigational and build expertise that met the needs of our demanding online audience and running public. We are delighted with our new forward-looking website, which has also helped re-imagine our brand.”

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