Road races not immune to corruption
While a new era of elite South African road running has apparently coincided with a rapid rise in mass participation, an increased interest among amateur runners may not be the reflection of the explosive boom in the sport, which it may have initially seemed.
It could instead be a thinly veiled con launched by cheeky individuals who are out to make a quick buck.
A multitude of reasons could be responsible for the rise in interest among amateur runners which has resulted in record entry sales across the board at the country’s oldest and most popular ultra-distance races.
Entries for next year’s Two Oceans 56km ultra-marathon sold out in less than two days earlier this month, after the 11 000 limit was reached, and 20 000 entries were sold in just three weeks for the 89km Comrades Marathon.
And the interest at one extreme of the sport may simply be the result of a ripple effect from a consistent rise in popularity across the road running spectrum.
The parkrun series is among the most successful fitness campaigns introduced in South Africa, with thousands of people taking up jogging and walking within their local communities in recent years, and new running clubs are successfully linking with companies to incorporate health and fitness reward programmes with endurance events. @wesbotton
In addition, the rise in international status of shorter distance races across the country may also have had a direct impact on the swelling of mass fields at ultra-distance races.
The Cape Town Marathon is the only road race in Africa with IAAF Gold Label status, while the Cape Town (12km) and Durban (10km) legs of the Run Your City series have attracted some of the world’s best distance runners, including World Championships 10 000m silver medallist Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda and Olympic 5 000m champion Vivian Cheruiyot of Kenya.
Despite these factors, however, the Comrades and Two Oceans have previously benefited from similar booms in the sport, and never have they attracted such tremendous interest from amateur participants.
Instead, perhaps a key change in the entry process for both races is playing the most significant role in what is being portrayed as a rise of popularity in the sport.
In recent years, organisers have allowed entrants to pass their race numbers on to other runners if they are unable to compete, in order to ensure they are able to regain their entry fee and give another runner a chance to take part.
It’s a good-hearted gesture from the organisers, but they have perhaps unwittingly opened a window for people to take advantage of runners who miss the entry window, by buying entries in bulk and selling them for profit.
If amateur runners are swarming to the sport as a direct result of growth across other areas, then that can only be good for the development of local road running.
But if non-runners are scalping tickets as part of a get-rich scheme, then this is perhaps not a joyous story of a spectacular road running boom that has swept the nation, but rather a sordid tale of innocent people being screwed.