Cape Town Marathon hopes cancellation won’t hurt bid for Major status

THE ORGANISERS of the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon are crossing fingers that their decision to cancel this year’s race an hour before the start due to safety concerns will not have a negative effect on their bid to become an Abbott World Marathon Major (AWMM) race.

About 24​ 000 runners had converged on the Mother City for Sunday’s race, with many already on their way to the start when they received news that the event would not go ahead because of the heavy winds that had wreaked havoc at the race village. The start and finish gantries, as well as fencing along the route, were blown away.

The Cape Town Marathon is bidding to become the first African marathon to receive Major status, and having already passed the initial test, the hope was that approval would follow after last weekend’s event.

But the cancellation has sown seeds of doubt among a South African running community bitterly disappointed and even accusing the organisers of having rushed the decision to cancel, as the winds appeared to have died down by 8am.

Cape Town Marathon CEO Clark Gardner said AWMM officials were in Cape Town at the weekend.

“We met with the ​Ma​jor assessors a few hours after the cancellation decision, and they complimented our team on the way we handled a really tough situation. 

​"I am still hopeful that it’s just a matter of time before we get to announce that we are a ​Ma​jor. In the meantime, we will pick ourselves up from this disappointment and do our best to ensure that we put on the best race possible next May.”

The organisers then moved to dispel the notion that the race could have been allowed to go on with a later start time by chronicling, in detail, the events that led to their decision to cancel.

In a press release sent out on Tuesday, they shared notes made by the ​marathon​'s ​safety ​officer, Phil Prinsloo of Eyethu Events, who was part of the event’s Joint Operations Committee. The committee consisted of representatives from the race organisers, the City of Cape Town’s Disaster Risk Management and Safety and Security portfolios, as well as medical services and SAPS.

The notes detailed the first reports of heavy winds at the race village when signage, fences and later marquees were blown over as the morning progressed — and explained why they felt it best to cancel under the Safety at Sports and Recreational Events Act (SASREA) of 2010.

“The Act stipulates that the responsibility for ensuring safety and security lies with the event’s controlling body, organiser or venue owner, through its Event Safety Plan, which must consider all reasonably practicable duties, actions and operational procedures to mitigate the hazards and related risks that might arise,” Prinsloo explained.

Gardner added that they, just like the runners, were disappointed by the cancellation but had to put the safety of all involved first.

“After a near-perfect day on Saturday for our Peace Run 10km and 5km events, and our three Cape Town Marathon Trail Races, we were all looking forward to the biggest edition of the marathon to date — with the strongest field ever assembled for a marathon on African soil — and passing stage two of our candidacy assessment to achieve Major status.

“Our team had worked for months on this event, planning for all scenarios, but a bigger force had the final say, and we once again apologise to all our marathon entrants and their supporters, as well as our sponsors and partners, that the race was not able to take place.”