A money grab how? What expenses could they have that they don’t have to pay?
The prize money for one. Does anybody know what the prize money structure was for this marathon? I'm sure they paid appearance fees (after all, the athletes were in attendance) but the prize money would not be paid.
A money grab how? What expenses could they have that they don’t have to pay?
The prize money for one. Does anybody know what the prize money structure was for this marathon? I'm sure they paid appearance fees (after all, the athletes were in attendance) but the prize money would not be paid.
Highly unlikely that they paid appearance fees. The appearance fees will be paid next year to those who return and actually run.
Gobsmacked. They have published a timeline but no responsibility for the structures despite the fencing along route and batch starts blowing over.
This in the summary:
"This was our third year in a row of experiencing various degrees of wind on the weekend of our event, and we are now ready to host our event in May, with the hope of less wind. Our marathon has a complex route that requires over 16 kilometres of fencing, as well as many road closures and a lot of signage, so we are vulnerable to winds that exceed 40 kilometres an hour. We prioritise safety above all else, and that’s what led to the cancellation this year, and our decision to move to May.”
So, in otherwords, despite not only knowing that Cape Town experiences this wind and possibility of strong gusts, despite previous years of wind, the barricades are not weighted down to prevent blowing over.
They continue to blame an Act of God, claiming that the start/finish infrastructure (not the barricades apparently) were signed off to 60km/h winds, and that twice they measured (with what?) exactly 48km/h after this happenned. Gusts are not the prevailing wind speed. The gusts were up to 100km/h especially in the slightly elevated freeway section (5km-7km), 8km to 11km flat and again 26km to 29km...those areas in particular are exposed and funnelling. Real time friend report from the latter area said "the wind was howling gale force" at 11am onwards.
The "Act of God" disclaimer and the BS in their press release absolve them from criticism - note 'they' (Cape Town Marathon) did not cancel, it was the JOC (Joint Ops Team) and Safety Committee...ah, the old safety committee gets the blame again because they can't get criticised- and more importantly it absolves them from refunds. What money you say? The race is fully sponsored, most of the infrastructure etc, salaries, aid etc...so yes, there is a pile somewhere. It is not a fun run operating off the smell of an oily rag.
Would be interested in blogger 'Running Mann's take
mmmh, yes, despite the JOC, Safety Committee, Race Organisation, Cape Town City Council all led by white guys.
I am so looking forward to living in Cape Town again the entire 2026, cycling, running, catching the vibe, walking and running with my brother's dog even after sunset...away from the places in the world where neighbours don't even talk, where you need appointments to visit friends etc, despite no high fences and gates...Go figure.
How are they more profitable? Their expenses don’t go down at all, they’ve already paid for everything.
They wouldn't be doing it to make profit, but there would be a lot of costs on day and post run and many service providers that would be only charging at most a cancellation amount. No road clean up, etc etc
They are. What's tougher, running a marathon or doing all that prep for nothing and not being bothered? The latter of course. So everyone here complaining that society is getting soft or corrupt or dangerous are sissies in their own right. It's like they can't cope with chaos and cancellations. Like they want to quit exposure to it. Real toughness doesn't complain about anything, including people in power doing what they want because they can. Confusing amirite? It's all relative.
This has to be the dumbest response to any post ever on Let'sRun. Someone who spends $5,000 on a trip to South Afrtica and gets upset about cancelling an event that obviously could have been held (the 10K was held), and THEY are the ones who are weak? I don't know what is happening to the world, but it is sad.
I'm sorry, you are right. I'm afraid the only thing worse than my post are some of my attempts at humour through sarcasm while concurrently trying to make a philosophical point. Indeed, what happened in terms of organisation, risk management and taking accountability is unacceptable.. I do, however, still believe sometimes there's a fine line between good and bad "tough" guys, which can get overlooked when pointing out negative aspects associated I certain cultural trends. I also think the problem is deeper than simply a culture of overly sensitive or weakminded individuals. It's easier to point to what one sees in people instead of asking what happened that some balance was needed between being soft (as opposed to weak, which is pejorative) vs being hard (vs tough, which sounds misleadingly more virtuous by default). The emphasis of being safe rather than sorry was long overdue (given the blunders of history) but indeed now sometimes brings out the toxic elements of the change involved. Mods can delete if my attempt at profound nonsense and dark humour is that bad (given the seriousness of the situation, I would be pissed too). P.S, Unless there is a prize for the worst post at the annual award thingy (I want to decline but I've never contributed the best or worst of anything so I have mixed feelings about your nomination). P.P.S. But seriously, my apologies for bad timing, content and ability. I think I'll resist the urge to try this again soon, and thanks for pointing it out.
25 to 35 mph winds today. I'm pretty sure I've raced in that before. I train in that plenty of the time in the fall and winter.
Fairly stupid and irrelevant post here. Have you read anything at all about the cancellation? Or do you just go off of Letsrun posts and TikTok-level headline knowledge of a situation?
All of the race communications and medica reports clearly state that the issue was trashed infrastructure at the start and finish the day/night before, not the wind during the race.
You can make a different argument that they could have found a way to put on the race anyway (and I would agree), but at least know what tf you're talking about.
The best time to hold a marathon in Cape Town is either April/May or late August/September.
can confirm - ran Two Oceans thirteen times, never a bad weather day in that time. The Cape Town marathon on the other hand, often had strong south-easters though never before seen the race stopped due to that.
here's some 100km/h winds in Cape Town, at the cycle tour -