There is much uncertainty over the future of the Two Oceans Marathon after the City of Cape Town withdrew its sponsorship of the race.
The withdrawal follows the Two Oceans Half Marathon on Sunday, 6 April, when the Events Permitting Office discovered that race management allowed more participants to take part in the half marathon than was approved in the official permit.
The City issued a permit allowing for 17,000 entrants to take part in the half-marathon, but the organisers allowed over 20,000 runners to enter, with 17,677 entrants listed as official finishers.
The City asserts that Two Oceans Marathon race management contravened conditions of its permit and subsequently the Events By-Law by allowing more than the permitted number of runners to take part.
“This is a complete disregard of the months of work behind the scenes to plan the logistics and safety measures in place around the event. The contravention of stipulated permit conditions places at risk the safety of people taking part in events.”
The sponsorship agreement between the City of Cape Town and the agreement between the City and the Two Oceans Marathon NPC is clear that any breach of permit will result in the municipality pulling sponsorship of the event.
The Two Oceans Marathon NPC was notified of the City’s decision withdraw support on 10 April.
The Municipality provides support in kind in the form of municipal services, which assist in the event safety and logistics planning for the Two Oceans Marathon.
The City says its actions pertain specifically to its sponsorship of the Two Oceans Marathon – the Event Organiser can continue to apply for permits through the normal channels, as they are required to do in any event, irrespective of City sponsorship.
Race organisers were reportedly in discussions with their legal team about the Metro’s withdrawal.
Following this year’s race, many complaints surfaced online, which included a lack of enough medals, inadequate hydration along the route, and a race goodie bag that only contained roll-on deodorant.
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