Organisers appeal for calm as Two Oceans Marathon faces backlash and permit issues

By Stephen Granger

As many of Africa’s leading ultra-marathoners make their way to Cape Town to race the 51^st edition of what has been dubbed “the World’s Most Beautiful Marathon this Easter Sunday, the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon TTOM) has faced backlash from churches, which perceive the race impacting on their Sunday services on the most holy of days on the Christian church calendar.

The City of Cape Town Events’ Department indicated last Friday that they had not yet issued a permit for the Ultra-marathon to go ahead, stating that they were not satisfied that issues relating to accessing churches along the route had been resolved.  While it is unlikely that the City will continue to withhold the permit, their statement has resulted in a flurry of activity on the part of the organisers, who issued a media statement last night (Monday) on the situation.

Splitting the two mass races – the 56km ultra-marathon and the 21km half marathon – into separate days, with the 56km to be run on Easter Sunday, had “unintended consequences on an important day for the Christian community for which the Two Oceans Marathon NPC sincerely apologises,” according to the statement.

Departing from the tradition of hosting both races on Easter Saturday, has been discussed for several years and would have a number of beneficial outcomes for the event.  But organisers had little option other than to separate the races this year due to COVID concerns.

Moving the 56km race to Sunday was due to “the safety of all runners, suppliers and staff involved in the event, to meet the necessary compliance mandates required by the Covid-19 Risk Management Strategy; and to allow both races to start early so that roads that had been closed could be reopened as early as possible”, read the Two Oceans Marathon statement.

Vice Chair of TTOM, Allan Ryninks, confirmed that their team had indeed met with the heads of the various church denominations. “We met with church leaders some time back and had been pleasantly surprised at their support and co-operation,” Ryninks explained. “We could not meet with each one of the individual churches – there are so many along the road.

“But it appears that church leaders and church goers are under the impression that the Two Oceans route will be completely sealed off and no access will be allowed.  This is not the case and anyone wanting to access any church along the way will be able to do so.  If necessary, we will stop runners in order that cars can cross at intersections and access churches.”  

The TTOM sought to mitigate the impact of the race in the areas along the route, according to the statement. “(The TTOM) along with the traffic management consultants, have developed a detailed Traffic Management Plan which prioritises minimising road closures and allowing access to places of worship over Easter Weekend, specifically on Easter Sunday. This Traffic Management Plan has been distributed to all churches in the route precinct and has been published on our website, www.twooceansmarathon.org.za, under both the NEWS and EVENTS sections.

“In addition, these travel advisories have been emailed to all race participants, and widely shared on our official social media platforms,” explained the statement. “No one wishing to attend a church or place of worship on Easter Sunday will be prevented from doing so.”

The statement also suggested that this year’s 56km on Easter Sunday could be a one-off occurrence and that “Two Oceans Marathon NPC will be considering various alternative approaches for the event going forward, including possibly, but not limited to, moving the event to a different weekend.”

The full statement reads as follows

TWO OCEANS MARATHON 2022 – DECISION TO RUN THE ULTRA MARATHON ON EASTER SUNDAY, 17 APRIL 2022

The Two Oceans Marathon NPC acknowledges the concerns raised by the Christian community regarding the impact on access to churches and places of worship caused by the Ultra Marathon to be held on Sunday, 17 April 2022.

The decision to split the annual event over two days over the Easter Weekend has had unintended consequences on an important day for the Christian community, for which we sincerely apologise.

This was to ensure the safety of all runners, suppliers and staff involved in the event, to meet the necessary compliance mandates required by the Covid-19 Risk Management Strategy; and to allow both races to start early so that roads that had been closed could be reopened as early as possible.

To mitigate the impact of the race in the areas along the route the organisers, along with the traffic management consultants, have developed a detailed Traffic Management Plan which prioritises minimising road closures and allowing access to places of worship over Easter Weekend, specifically on Easter Sunday. This Traffic Management Plan has been distributed to all churches in the route precinct and has been published on our website, www.twooceansmarathon.org.za, under both the NEWS and EVENTS sections.

In addition, these travel advisories have been emailed to all race participants, and widely shared on our official social media platforms.

Anyone wishing to attend a church or place of worship on Easter Sunday will not be prevented from doing so.

All road closures related to the Ultra Marathon on 17 April can be found at https://www.twooceansmarathon.org.za/event_race_day/road-closures/ while all road closures related to the Half Marathon can be found at https://www.twooceansmarathon.org.za/event_race_day/road-closures-2/. 

As our event continues to grow and with it, the impact on local residents, access to places of worship and businesses operations; the Two Oceans Marathon NPC will be considering various alternative approaches for the event going forward, including possibly, but not limited to, moving the event to a different weekend.

After extensive consultations with various church groups, leaders and Christian individuals, our position remains that hosting the Ultra Marathon on Easter Sunday was an unfortunate, one-off anomaly given the constraints inherent in our planning, which necessarily included meeting the mandates contained in the Covid-19 Risk Management Strategy.

After extensive consultations with various church groups the need to host the event has been recognised and the approach to enable churchgoers to get to services explained. 

We really appreciate the support and input that came from these discussions and especially the instances where services have been shifted to allow easy access for worshippers. We do request that all who are travelling make allowance for some delays, depart for their destinations early, and be patient.

The TOM NPC remains committed to hosting an event that has a positive impact on all who love and live in this City, and expresses its appreciation to all communities for their continued support

The TOM NPC wishes all a safe and pleasant weekend and, those celebrating, a blessed Easter.