TWO OCEANS RUNNERS IRATE OVER CUT-OFF TIME
Organisers apologise for ‘unfortunate oversight’
DISGRUNTLED Two Oceans Marathon runners have expressed their disappointment at race organisers, saying they were wrongfully prevented from completing the race, which had consequences for their Comrades Marathon qualifying times.
About 14000 athletes participated in the 56km route from Newlands, through Muizenberg, St James, Kalk Bay, Chapman’s Peak and Constantia before finishing at UCT on Saturday.
However, some runners were stopped in their tracks with several hours remaining until the cut-off time.
Two Oceans Marathon organisers last night apologised, saying it was an “unfortunate oversight” on their part, as their website did not reflect the correct cut-off time. Nthabiseng Simelane, who travelled from Pretoria, said everything went well until they reached the 42.2km mark.
“According to my time, I was 4 hours and 56 minutes and I still had around two hours to complete the race. When we got there they locked the gate and we fought with them,” she said.
After 20 minutes, Simelane said, officials opened the gates and allowed the competitors to resume.
“Mentally I was devastated. I couldn't do it. I ran for a kilometre from there but I turned around.
“The whole thing spoiled the mood and I went into the bus. Those guys delayed us; they stopped us.
“Running is all about mentality. This was my first race, I was looking forward to it. I trained enough. For them to do that... I'm not coming back next year.”
Simelane said there was miscommunication and confusion among the marathon officials.
Participating in her second Two Oceans Marathon, Rashika Singh, from
Pietermaritzburg, said the interruption had prevented her from qualifying for the Comrades Marathon.
“Imagine the mental stress, let alone the physical stress of running without marshalls at the dangerous points on the road and hoping to finish across the line, I just carried on to finish the race.”
The moment when runners begged officials to stop what they were doing and allow them to continue was also caught on camera, which has since gone viral on social media.
Pierre Kleinsmith, who finished in a time of 6 hours and 55 minutes, is one of the runners seen on camera reminding officials of the correct cutoff times.
“It’s not something you can sommer just ‘get wrong’.
“Such behaviour is very much tolerated and even encouraged in Cape Town, and an apology is owed to all those who travelled far to do this race,” he said.
Kleinsmith has participated in 18 Two Oceans Marathons and is heading for his 20th Comrades Marathon.
The Khayelitsha Running Club said some of its runners were affected by the bundle of cut-offs.
“The matter must be investigated and an apology must be issued to both participants and clubs. Also, that must be accompanied by a clear remedy plan to avoid this happening again.
“Runners spend money just to prepare for this. A lot of time and sacrifices are made for months, only for this to be ruined by incompetent organisers,” the club said.
The marathon organisers said the cut-off time of 10.50 was not updated on their website. “The cut-off time of 10.46 was listed in the final communication to all runners through the official digimag, which has the latest information regarding race details. This is sent to all participants directly via SMS days before the race.”