Victoria Falls Half Marathon: 2024 review and trip report (Relay edition)
Victoria Falls Half Marathon: 2024 review and trip report (Relay edition)
Plus: Botswana and Zambia day-trips, and around Namibia in six days.
Victoria Falls — where the Zambezi, Africa’s fourth longest river, cascades down into a rocky gorge — is one of the largest waterfalls in the world. There are a number of ways of measuring waterfall size, but Victoria Falls is right up there. If you measure size-by-width-times-height, it is the largest. On all measures, it is bigger than Niagara. Twice as high, in fact.
The Falls straddle two countries, Zimbabwe and Zambia. The city of Victoria Falls — with a population of around 38,000 — is on the Zimbabwe side and abuts the Falls. The nearest city on the Zambian side is Livingstone, a few miles away.
The city of Victoria Falls hosts one of southern Africa’s largest running events. The Victoria Falls Marathon is held in early July with a Full, a Half, a Relay, and a 7 KM Fun Run. Keep in mind that Zimbabwe is in the Southern Hemisphere. So this is a winter race. But winter temperatures in Victoria Falls tend to be warm.
I travelled to Victoria Falls with my wife, daughter, and son to run the Relay. It was part of a 12-day whirlwind trip to southern Africa that also took in day trips into Botswana and Zambia and six nights in Namibia.
The Victoria Falls Marathon event
The Victoria Falls Marathon has been run since 2006. This year was the first time the Relay event took place. The Relay involves each participant running half of the Half. So we were two teams of two — the parents, and the kids (aged 29 and 20, respectively), each of us slated to run a little over 6.5 miles. (Although, as narrated in a bit, that is not quite how it worked out.)
This is not one of those small “destination races” where the bulk of runners come from far away. Roughly 7,000 runners take place across all the distances. And a large majority are either local or regional. But there are a significant number of participants from other continents. And the organizers have an excellent travel program for visitors from further afield. More on that later.
If you are thinking of taking part, don’t leave it too long before committing. All the distances sell out weeks ahead of race day. Hotels can be tight, too.
This is one of two events the organizers put on. The other is the Kilimanjaro Marathon, which takes place in February in Moshi, Tanzania, at the foot of Africa’s highest mountain, also with Full, Half, and Fun distances.
Victoria Falls orientation
The city of Victoria Falls is located inside the Victoria Falls National Park. It is unusual to have a city inside a park of this sort. One consequence is that wildlife can wander into the city. During the daytime, that shouldn’t be too much of an issue. You’re not talking about marauding lions in the streets. Maybe the odd warthog or a sighting of an elephant. Not to mention cheeky baboons.
But after dark, you need to be more careful. Elephants, in particular, can pose a risk at close quarters if you happen to stumble across one. There have been three incidents in the past year or so when tourists have been killed by elephants in the region, though none were in Victoria Falls itself.
Possible encounters with wildlife aside, the city seems very safe. We had no difficulty walking around and encountered friendliness wherever we went. There are a lot of hawkers to whom you’ll constantly find yourself saying “no thank you” or — disingenuously — “maybe later,” but none that were unduly aggressive.
Some of the hawkers and drivers have interesting names — we encountered ones who introduced themselves as Never, Honest, Talent, and KGB. And we met someone else called Admire. We amused ourselves constructing sentences using all of these names. (“There was never honest talent in the KGB or anything to admire,” and so forth.)
Many visitors stay in lodges close to, but outside, the city. However, as detailed later, we chose to stay in the city itself. There are some benefits to doing so. One is that you can walk to and from the race start. Another is that you can walk to the Falls themselves — or even walk across the border into Zambia to view them from the other side. And you get to enjoy the vibe of the city itself.
The Falls are not really visible when you are in the city, but you can hear the roar and catch sight of clouds of spray. Once you enter the ticketed area (and, yes, you do need a ticket to get a good look at the Victoria Falls), it’s a short walk through a small area of rain forest to the first of the viewing points and you can then walk from one point to the next.
It’s worth also looking at the Falls from the Zambian side. To get to Zambia, you cross the Victoria Falls Bridge, which runs 420 feet over a gorge leading away from the falling water. The international border is on that bridge. However, the Zambian border post is a short distance away on the far side. So you could cross the bridge into Zambia and then turn back without actually going through immigration and getting a stamp in your passport. But to access the Falls on the Zambian side, you do need to go through immigration and you are then more or less right at the entrance to the viewing areas. Fortunately, immigration and visa procedures are simple — more on that later.
The bridge is one of the few places where you can get a look at the Falls without paying. It’s not the closest or best view, but it’s decent. However, having come all the way to Victoria Falls, it would be a pity to make it your only view. Nonetheless, the bridge is definitely worth a visit even if you aren’t planning on actually entering Zambia. It is a Victoria Falls sight in its own right. Made out of steel, it was built in 1905 during colonial times. The manufacturing took place in Britain and they shipped all the pieces. The bridge is used by pedestrians and vehicles and there is also a train track for freight. It was part of a scheme — never brought to full fruition — to have a railway going all the way from Cairo to the Cape. As noted shortly, the bridge features in the race course.
The Falls perspective from the Zambian side is different. You are generally closer to the water. On either side, be prepared to get a little wet at certain points. Some visitors prepare for this by donning ponchos and other elaborate rainwear. But this really isn’t necessary, unless, perhaps, you are unusually sensitive to water or visit on a day with strong winds. You’re not going to get drenched under normal conditions and the spray is actually quite refreshing on a hot day.
The Victoria Falls race experience
Packet pickup is on the day before the race at a hotel in the center of town. We happened to be staying at that hotel. And if you make your travel arrangements through the race organizers, you can pick up your packet at the front desk of any of the hotels in the travel program. There was quite a line for pickup outside when we left the hotel that morning on our way to walk to Zambia. There was no expo or anything like that as far as I’m aware, but we didn’t get inside the pickup area.
The packet consisted of the bib, the race shirt — a purple one for Relay participants — and a lightweight matching buff.
The race starts at a school close to the center of the city. There are shuttle buses from the participating hotels. The start was in walking distance of our hotel, but we still took the shuttle as it was dark and we wanted to avoid a wildlife encounter.
The Half and Full Marathons share the same course for much of the way before the longer one branches out. This takes you toward the Falls, over the Victoria Falls Bridge and back, and then along a road close to the Zambezi River before turning back into town. The bridge crossing is the highlight. It is the only part of the course where you see the Falls. If you’re thinking of doing the Fun Run, keep in mind this does not go over the bridge, so you wouldn’t see the Falls at all.
The Full Marathon was scheduled to start at 6:30 AM and the Half — as well as the Relay — at 7 AM. The idea is to have Full runners clearing the bridge before those from the Half get there so as to reduce overcrowding. It was still dark when we got to the start at around 6:15 AM, although the sun had risen by the time the Half — and the Relay — began.
Relay runners are given a baton with their race kit. As noted above, the plan had been for the four of us to run in two teams of two. But my son had an unfortunate encounter with a plate of highly spicy peri peri chicken at lunch in Livingstone, across the border in Zambia, the previous day. It was described as “medium spicy,” but it was a lot more than that. I know because I had the same. It may have been the most spicy dish I have ever eaten — and I like spice. My son went down overnight with gastric issues, likely the result of that lunch. He did bravely make it to the race start, but returned to the hotel on foot in a hurry soon after. The men’s bathrooms at the start area were in no state to be used by the time we got there. Others with gastric issues had, unfortunately, made unconventional use of the floor and other surfaces. And this wasn’t the type of condition where a single visit would likely have sufficed anyway. (Generally, Victoria Falls is a clean place. I wouldn’t judge it by those race bathrooms.)
So my daughter was left as a team of one. She stuck by her plan to run only the second half of the Half with my wife. So she carried the baton on the bus from the start to the Relay switchover point, attracting odd looks and well-meaning suggestions from runners concerned that the first-half relay runner was meant to be carrying it at that point.
Talking of the baton, a pre-race email indicated it included the timing chip, and advised people they shouldn’t, therefore, lose it. But I don’t think it did. The chips appeared firmly embedded in the Relay bibs and there seemed no way to open up the baton.
The Half — including the first stage of the Relay — started a few minutes late, but I didn’t mind as there was a lot of energy and it was a fun environment. Once we did get going, I was a bit confused as to where the actual start line was. Normally, I’d expect to cross a slightly raised mat containing the timing gizmos that interact with the chip in your bib. But, here, there was no such mat as we went under a starting arch nor in the first few hundred feet. So at some point, I just started the timer and GPS on my watch. I guess they must use a tracking system that isn’t embedded in a mat. And it was probably where the arch was. I recall something similar in Munich about 18 months earlier.
There were no starting waves or corrals. My times had lately been somewhat below my average of recent years, so I placed myself somewhere in the second half of the pack as runners lined up. That was a mistake — or, at least, it would have been had I been aiming for a particular time (which I wasn’t). The reason is that my part of the line-up moved very slowly from the start. And the crowd was so dense it was hard to get ahead. So in the first half mile, I was barely able to sustain a pace of 15 minutes per mile — more like a fast walk than a slow jog. I think I may have got unlucky as I was stuck behind a group of about 200 runners who seemed to be trying to stick together, many of them singing and dancing as they slowly moved forward. It was actually quite atmospheric and I tried to just enjoy the experience. Once I managed to get around them, I was able to pick up my pace.
But not for long. Runners get to the bridge after about two miles and the pace slows considerably once you are on it. It’s partly because the bridge is narrower than the roads leading to and from it and there are runners going in both directions. And partly because many runners stop to admire the view or take photos.
So if you are obsessing on every minute of your time, this could be frustrating. However, the better way to approach it is — again — to enjoy the moment and go with the flow. If you’ve come from afar, this is probably the only time in your life you’ll be taking part in a race with Victoria Falls in sight. Make the most of it.
The course continues on the Zambian side for a short stretch beyond the bridge, almost up to to the border post where there’s a turnaround. After crossing back into Zimbabwe, it then parallels the Zambezi for a while. But you don’t get much of a view of the river because of the bush. This is the segment where you are apparently most likely to encounter wildlife. The organizers advise there are armed rangers at various points. However, I didn’t notice any rangers while running or see any wildlife.
There were hydration stations with water given out in plastic bags. However, I was carrying my own. The course has got some hills, but nothing too bad. Keep in mind that Victoria Falls is at an elevation of 2,900 feet. So if you are used to running closer to sea level, you may notice the altitude. A few days of acclimatization should help.
My wife and daughter were waiting for me when I got to the Relay handover point. As noted earlier, they’d been bussed there from the start. The temperatures were beginning to warm up by then. I’d begun to regret forgetting to put on sunscreen.
After passing my baton to my wife, I took a bus back to the start. But not right away, as my daughter mistakenly handed me her baton nestled in a jacket she wanted to shed as temperatures rose. So I waited a half hour or so before daughter and wife — who kept an equal pace with one another — came back past the handover point after an out-and-back segment.
I wanted my daughter to have the baton, not just because carrying one validates the Relay experience but also because not having it could have complicated medal collection at the end. The way it worked for Relay participants is that runners finishing the second half picked up two medals each upon surrendering their baton — the second one to give to their teammate. (Not that my daughter at that point had a fully operational teammate, but she was still given two.)
The bus took me back to the start/finish area. I could have waited to meet wife/daughter, but decided to walk back to the hotel. We were somewhat pressed for time as we had a flight to catch to Namibia — more on that in a bit — and I wanted to check on my son’s wellbeing (we didn’t have cell service, so I hadn’t heard from him since he hurried back from the start line).
About David Livingstone, someone you’ll hear about
You can’t spend much time in the Victoria Falls area without hearing the name “Livingstone.” Indeed, as noted earlier, Livingstone is the name of the city on the Zambian side of the Falls. David Livingstone (1813-1873) — the man who brought his name to this part of Africa — was a Scottish explorer who in 1855 was the first recorded European to reach the Falls.
Unlike many from Europe who ventured deep into Africa in the 19th century, Livingstone has not been posthumously “de-platformed.” His name is not being papered over. Statues to him are left standing. This reflects the fact that Livingstone was not a colonialist in the power- or land-grabbing sense, but a missionary. His main motivation was to end the Portuguese and Arab slave trade that blighted parts of Africa, including what is now Zimbabwe.
While some might say the explorations of missionaries like Livingstone helped open up Africa for colonialism, he was not himself a colonizer or a conqueror. He died in what is now Zambia from malaria and internal bleeding due to dysentery. And his body was brought back to the U.K. for burial in London’s Westminster Abbey, the place where Kings and Queens are crowned. (And where, for about four years of my teenage life, I was meant to show up for daily morning service while attending a private school abutting its cloisters, but from which services I tended, after a while, to find myself absent upon realizing there was no effective system in place for monitoring attendance.)
The Victoria Falls were named by Livingstone after Britain’s reigning Queen at the time. There is an African name, “Mosi-oa-Tunya,” meaning “The Smoke That Thunders” (referring to the clouds of spray rising above the roaring cascades that are visible even when the Falls themselves are not). But it is not clear that the name “Victoria Falls” is going to be taken off the signage any time soon.
About Ian Smith, someone you might not hear about
There is another white person who became famous — or, rather, infamous — on account of what is now Zimbabwe, but you won’t find any statues of him. That person was Ian Smith. While I was growing up in the U.K. in the 1960s and 1970s, Smith was the subject of constant stories on the television news — black-and-white TV before we got our first color set. He was the leader of a white settler movement that declared unilateral independence from Britain in 1965 when the latter was preparing to hand over Rhodesia — the colony that comprised what is now Zimbabwe — to black majority rule.
What followed was a long and often ugly and violent process, during which Smith’s Rhodesia became a pariah state aligned with what was then apartheid South Africa. Eventually, under Britain’s Margaret Thatcher, Zimbabwean independence was finally achieved in 1980 in a belated peaceful transfer of power. Smith continued to have a role in Zimbabwean politics for a while as the official Leader of the Opposition.
Sadly, the regime that followed — under Robert Mugabe, one of the leaders of the independence movement — was no poster child for enlightened post-colonial democracy. Mugabe, who became increasingly dictatorial, brutal, and corrupt, wrecking his country’s economy in the process, finally lost power in 2017, about two years before his death.
Victoria Falls travel notes
Getting there: If you’re coming from Europe or North America, one of the best ways of getting to Victoria Falls is to take the direct flight from Frankfurt operated by Discover Airlines, a leisure-focused subsidiary of Lufthansa. The flight — operated on an A330 wide-body with three classes of service — makes a brief stop in Windhoek, Namibia. It is the only direct flight from Europe. I’ll be writing more about Discover — and another alternative German airline, Condor — in a separate post. But, for now, I recommend Discover as an easy means of getting to Victoria Falls. They fly to some destinations in the U.S., so you could go all the way from one of their U.S. gateways with just one seamless connection.
The other long-haul carriers flying direct to Victoria Falls are Qatar and Ethiopian. You can also get there on regional flights from Johannesburg or Nairobi among other places. Harare, the Zimbabwean capital, tends not to be on the tourist trail and is harder to reach from overseas than Victoria Falls.
Our Victoria Falls itinerary: Most people flying in from afar to run one of the Victoria Falls Marathon events are going to want to explore the area and, maybe, make it part of a bigger travel experience. We were in Victoria Falls for four nights. We spent our first full day there exploring the Falls from the Zimbabwe side as well as the city itself.
Later that day, we took a sunset river cruise on the Zambezi, which I’d highly recommend. There’s a good chance of seeing some wildlife as you meander along the river — we saw hippos, elephants, and crocodiles — and it’s an inexpensive and relaxing way to pass some time enjoying a sundowner or two. There was a river cruise laid on for international race participants on the evening of race day. That sounded like a fun option, but we flew out of the country hours after the race so couldn’t make it.
We spent the second full day going into neighboring Botswana to visit Chobe National Park, where you can see all sorts of wildlife. If you have more time, you might want to consider spending a night in Chobe, but it’s an easy day trip. The next day, we walked to Zambia to see the Falls from that side and then took a taxi to Livingstone.
Immigration rules are easy for most nationalities, especially compared with some other parts of Africa (thinking of you, Ghana). We obtained reasonably priced visas on arrival at Zimbabwe. If you’re planning on going into Zambia and/or Botswana, you can get a visa that allows re-entries and, moreover, doubles up as your Zambian visa with minimum border bureaucracy. Many nationalities — U.S. included — do not need a visa for Botswana.
Making Victoria Falls arrangements: The race organizers have a travel program for international participants. It is handled by a firm called Wild Frontiers, which is affiliated with the race itself (not to be confused with Wild Horizons, which is the largest travel operator in Victoria Falls). This program does not include your travel in and out, but it can cover just about everything you want on the ground.
We initially thought of making our own arrangements, but decided to go with the program and I’m glad we did. For a start, they have block bookings for a lot of the hotels and it’s a busy time of the travel year even without the race. So although you could make your own arrangements, you’d find your accommodation choices curtailed. The person with whom I dealt at Wild Frontiers was very helpful and highly responsive. I booked our Botswana day trip through the program ahead of our arrival as I wanted to have that in place. But you really don’t need a guide to explore Victoria Falls itself on either the Zimbabwe or Zambian sides. And things like river cruises are easy to arrange on the spot. So there is no need to over-arrange your time on the ground.
Where to stay and eat: We stayed at the Cresta Sprayview Hotel, close to the center of town. Cresta is a regional hotel chain in that part of Africa. The Sprayview is far from fancy, but it has a certain charm. The rooms — somewhat motel-like — are nothing special, but they are laid out in pleasant grounds covering eight acres and there’s a decent size pool with outdoor and covered eating areas. The food was fine. The hotel does have its rougher edges (such as a general lack of hot water in our room over the whole stay), but this is made up for by friendly staff and a convenient location. And unlike some of the hotels in the Victoria Falls area, the Sprayview is used by locals for events, so you aren’t in too much of a tourist bubble. I would definitely stay there again.
There’s one very fancy hotel even closer to the Falls, the Victoria Falls Hotel. Built in 1904, this is quite the grand establishment with a lot of old-world charm. If you don’t stay there, you might want to consider having drinks or dinner on their stylish terrace, which has a view of the Victoria Falls Bridge in the distance. Our dinner was excellent. Kudos to one of their doormen who, when we couldn’t readily get a taxi after dinner and were leaving to walk back to our hotel, insisted on accompanying us all the way — a little over a mile — to ensure we got there safely.
Another place I’d recommend for lunch or dinner is the Lookout Café, which also has a view of the Victoria Falls Bridge and of a gorge leading away from the Falls. We went there a couple of times and enjoyed decent food and great service. Try to get there outside of peak dining times to increase your chance of getting a table with the best views.
These suggestions — like all of my travel notes in this blog — are simply based on my experiences. I don’t attempt to provide complete travel guides and I’m sure there are other good places to stay and eat.
The multiple lounges of Victoria Falls Airport: There are no less than three Priority Pass lounges at Victoria Falls Airport. Compare that with none at present at LAX, the nearest major international airport to where I live. It tends to be a bit hit or miss where you find PP lounges, and they are not always where you’d expect.
As we were lining up to go through security at the Victoria Falls Airport when leaving the country, a security official overheard us discussing our lounge options. We must have been talking a little loud in our debate as to which of the three to go to. He inquired whether we were going to a lounge, and upon hearing that we were, he escorted us to the front of the security line. He then stuck with us, guiding us to one particular lounge, which he recommended as the best, and introducing us to the front desk. At first, I thought the airport was simply giving undue deference to lounge users, treating them like VIPs and not quite getting the reality of Priority Pass in the aviation pecking order. But it then occurred to me that there is competition among the Priority Pass lounges at Victoria Falls — all independent operations — as they get paid by PP for each guest who enters. And I suspect airport staff are incentivized to steer prospective lounge visitors in certain directions.
The lounges at Victoria Falls are quite small, but we ended up trying out a couple and found them decent. They seem to share the same kitchen. We ordered toasted cheese sandwiches in the two we visited and received identical plates. There was also a fourth lounge, not on the PP roster, but — based on a quick peek inside — it was no better than the others.
Namibia add-on
If you want to make Victoria Falls part of a larger trip, you could consider exploring other parts of Zimbabwe, or going further into Zambia or Botswana. South Africa is another option. But we chose to combine Victoria Falls with Namibia. It’s an easy combination if you’re taking Discover Airlines since, as noted above, the flight from Frankfurt to Victoria Falls stops in Windhoek — the Namibian capital — and you can break your journey in either direction. We stopped over on the return.
We were in Namibia for six nights. We arranged for a guide/driver who took us around the country in a Land Cruiser. It was an ambitious itinerary, covering a lot of ground in this large, lightly populated country. Namibia is second only to Mongolia as the least densely populated country in the world. It was, incidentally, also Germany’s geographically largest colony, and distinct Teutonic connections remain. Hence the Discover Airlines connection.
Self-drive is more feasible in Namibia than in many parts of Africa, and is a popular option especially for visitors with more time. But with the amount of ground we were covering in a short period of time, we were glad to have the driver — and the spacious Land Cruiser was the perfect vehicle. We spent one night in Windhoek, then drove to Etosha National Park in the north for a couple of nights, then southwest to the Skeleton Coast — taking a backroad past Brandenburg, the country’s highest mountain — to Henties Bay and then the city of Swakopmund.
After a night in Swakopmund, we headed further south to Walvis Bay and then to the desert and Namib-Naukluft National Park for the last two nights, crossing the Tropic of Capricorn. Climbing a massive desert dune at dawn was quite memorable.
We made our Namibia arrangements through Chameleon Holidays & Travel, who I highly recommend. Be advised that an itinerary like this is quite demanding in terms of hours spent on the road every day.
Victoria Falls Marathon event sum-up
The Victoria Falls Marathon is one of the most accessible major running events in Africa. By “accessible,” I mean relatively easy to get to and to arrange. Travel in Africa can be challenging, but this event makes running in one of the most iconic places on the continent a viable option even if you don’t have a lot of time or the inclination to travel much upon stepping off your long-haul flight. While you may want to make it part of a larger trip, you could do this race and have a great travel experience if you have only three or four nights in Africa. Definitely one to add to your bucket list if, like me, you love the intersection of running and travel. ✈️ 🏃
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