Two Oceans Ultra Marathon Cutoffs: Unedited Runner Stories

The following are unedited correspondence I’ve received from various 2024 Two Oceans ultra runners who were impacted by the the marathon and Constantia Nek cutoffs. I have just removed any identifying text like names and race numbers.

I believe that this is a valuable resource to understand that there are always humans who are impacted in different ways by these unfortunate decisions. Some are angry, others disappointed, others disillusioned – there’s a wide variety of different emotions.

I will be publishing an in-depth analysis of the cutoff issue in the next few days (I’ve just received answers to my detailed questions from the Two Oceans Organisation). The article will draw from some of these stories.

Recovering Breast Cancer Survivor (2nd Ultra)

Good evening,

My 2024 Two Oceans Ultra Marathon debacle….

Let me start right in the beginning. I entered Two Oceans Ultra Marathon for the second time purely for a training run. You see I was trained and ready to run my 1st Comrades last year but unfortunately caught a stomach bug and I couldn’t start. (A do not start is better than a did not finish.) A week later I was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. This however was not going to stop my running dreams from coming true. I started treatment, had a big op at the end of August, finished radiation by the end of October and found out I didn’t need chemo by the end of November. I ran my first half marathon by December 2023. I entered Two Oceans Ultra as a dream and decided to enter the Two Oceans half as a I Love Boobies charity run. I did another crazy thing and entered Comrades 2024!

In January 2024 I ran Bay to Bay 30kms (3:40) and Red Hill Marathon (5:25). In February I ran The Balwin Sport Peninsula Marathon in 4:49:15 and qualified for Oceans and Comrades by 45 seconds!

The Two Oceans dream has arrived, it’s Saturday 13 April and super early morning stand-up for me at 02:30! My race number was M##### , which meant I started in the second last batch which went off at 05:37. I started my watch a minute before the gun went off for just in case.

Everything was going according to plan. My average pace was looking good and although I was pacing nicely and I knew I had to keep moving to make cut-off at 10:46. I watched my watch very closely and kept going. I was determined not to end up on a bailer bus!

42,2km was the next cut-off. As I was running up the hill a few spectators were shouting only 5 minutes to go…. only 3 minutes to go. I thought this was strange because it felt too soon for cut-off. I picked up the pace and made it through the cut-off with 5 seconds to spare (according to me) and made it through with x3 runners behind me (10:46). The gun went off and the gate closed. Us last few runners who made it through spoke about a 10:50 cut-off but I said I read somewhere it’s a 10:46 cut-off and I didn’t want to risk it so I aimed for sooner than later. The spectators who were cheering us on where also on a 10:50 cut-off and not a 10:46 cut-off…. This is confusion no1.

Confusion no2 comes up further up the road where the road was closed off at about a 46/47km mark. This is not an official cut-off point and all I remember was the gate closing and all the purple signage. I immediately asked what is happening here as we need to keep moving! All I got was we should have been cut-off at 42,2km’s and cannot continue. I was totally blown away. How was it that I made it through the gun and the closing of the gate and then to get told no sorry you can’t continue???

[NOTE: This runner legitimately made the marathon cutoff and was then stopped as the ad hoc cutoff at the top of Constantia Nek]

About 10 to 12 minutes of fighting and getting no clear answers out of anyone the spectators encouraged us to go round them. And that’s exactly what I did, as well as a few other runners in tow …. I jumped over the side-walks, through the spectators, through the police cars and policemen and managed to find my way back onto the road. I even went back up the hill to make sure there was no finish time stand set-up as I didn’t want to miss anything and then get disqualified later for not checking in. Another lady from Langa club joined me and we ran our hearts out with adrenaline pumping through our veins. I encouraged her to keep going and let’s see if they cut us off at the 50km mark. When we arrived there all we got was lots of cheering and go, go, go!!!! At this stage I was very cross and upset. I kept looking at my watch and with trying to make up time I knew I had wasted too much time fighting at the unofficial cut-off and knew my body couldn’t do a 5min/km pace to make up the lost time and I was running the half marathon the next day. However, I was going to finish strong and get the valuable km’s on the legs as this was for me a training run. I finished at 7:11. I did not receive a medal or an official finish. My Two Oceans Ultra time from last year was 6:31.

Once I had finished, I immediately asked for a manager as I wanted an explanation. I made my way to the information tent and the staff working there contacted Hilton, the event manager. I told Hilton my story and he was very much unaware of the cut-off and will definitely look into it from their side. I said that would be great. I then said I plan to run the half the next day and could I pop in after that. He said that is perfect and he will look out for me.

Later that day Two Oceans posted a message onto social media saying they are doing a full investigation and will get back to us within 72hrs.

The half marathon rolls round and I finish my first charity run feeling strong in 2:33.

I made my way back to the information tent and asked the staff to get hold of Hilton for me. They phoned him 3 times, no answer, eventually a staff member phones her mother who also works there and she says Hilton is near the stairs at the finish and I can make my way there to speak to him. I then proceeded to climb the stairs up and down to the VIP tents to look and ask for Hilton. No luck. Eventually another committee member (Jerome) tries to help me and takes me to the finish time tent to speak to someone there. They look me up on the system and see my times. They then tell me at 42,2km my time was 10:46:57 so I shouldn’t have continued. So who made the mistake then, who is liable, definitely NOT us runners…I was through the cut-off, the gun went off behind me and now they are telling me I’m wrong?

Still no Hilton to be seen. After about 45 minutes and lots of stair climbing, I gave the information tent my contact details for the second time and went to buy a Vida coffee. After almost 78kms on the legs I was a bit tired. I still have not personally heard back from anyone.

The reason I’m telling you all this information is for you to see the following:

I am an experienced long-distance runner with lots of km’s on the legs and know how to pace myself against cut-offs. I have also been a ####### club member since 2006.

I want to ran for a bigger purpose and not just for myself. I want people out there to be inspired about keeping on moving and your mind is your most powerful tool.

I want to fight against a system that is unfair and does not have the running community’s best interest at heart.

I want people to know what happened on Saturday is not right…I do not want to keep quiet and I want to be heard.

The reason I want you to hear my story is because I want to be an advocate for those who feel they can’t run. Yes, I had cancer but this still didn’t stop me from reaching and working towards my dreams.

I’m just an ordinary runner with extraordinary dreams and I feel that Two Oceans organizers have stolen this ultra from me. If Two Oceans made a mistake, they need to acknowledge it and own up to it. Later today I received an SMS saying they have posted something on their website. It’s all about the 42,2km mark. Nothing has been said about the 46/47km mark and what they plan to do for us runners that were directly affected by their actions. We worked hard to qualify for this event and also paid a nice fee to enter. I did not climb any fences and came through that 42.2km mark legitimately so why am I being penalized for their actions and incompetence and lack of communication?

Confusion no3 comes in where they stipulated on their website that you can pace at 7,5/km and still make cut-off….you do the maths and see if it adds up!

I worked it out for 42,2kms pacing at 7,5min/km gives you 5:16 = cut-off at 10:55. Someone somewhere didn’t do the right calculation…… I feel us hard working dedicated runners need better answers.

Thanks for listening. (reading 😊)

Follow on email after the TOM cutoff announcement was made:

Good Afternoon Stuart,

The announcement put out last night is absolutely insulting and made me angry. I was previously disappointed but now I am angry! Please take this right up to the athletics board and let’s not be accepting to what has happened. If you look at the Tik-tok video at the 42.2km gate, you will quickly see at least 4 – 5 comrades running hats and we had to qualify to run this race.

Correct to answer your questions – I went through at 42,2km’s, gun went off and the gate closed with a few seconds to spare. We continued on and got cut off Hollywood bets with all the purple signage, which would be near the top of Constantia Nek.

I wasted time at the closed gate and stood fighting for a while, I then made my way to the road again and wasted more time going back up to make sure there was no check in point I could have missed. I then continued and starting slowing down when I realised I couldn’t make up the lost time. This was at about 54km’s.

Thank-you for listening and for standing up for us runners!!!!!

Debut Oceans Runner #1

Thank you so much for advocating for the runners especially us slow and back runners.

I am one of the many runners who were unfairly cut off on Saturday at the 42 cut off. My running strategy was based on the 10:50am as advertised previously not the new 10:46. I will attach the screenshot sent to me by my friend while tracking me until i stopped at 42.2 at exactly 5:10 -5:12 I will also attach my results as recorded on Strava (was stopped at 5:10 however after waiting for few minutes when i saved my watch it was at 5:13).

I noted the communication from TOM this evening, what puzzles me is the screenshot below which is a blatant lie from TOM, no one jumped the fence we were allowed to proceed. In actual fact the new rules were explained to us that: we must save our 42km as recorded on our watches, start a new race from 42.2 k and they will give us two hours or so to complete the remaining 14km.

Follow on explanation email:

Basically the guy with a note book is the one who made calls and gave direction and leadership on how to proceed. The other tall one at the back without glasses is the one who closed the gate and was so rude and swearing at some of the runners.

The instruction given was that:

• We go back to the 42.2km mark
• Save the time and kms recorded on our watch
• Start a new race
• They will give us two hours or so (Can’t remember the exact time) to complete the remaining 14km
• Then He said we should start at 11:07
• Then we started

When we got to 4km, the rude guy who cut us off at 42k was there, and instructed the marshalls to close off the gates at an unofficial cut off point. He then instructed us to retire from the race and enter the buses.

Another thing is that, when we tried to capture the instructions that the other guy was explaining, the rude one said we must delete that video and if we don’t He is going to take our race number and disqualify us. Other videos were deleted but at least this one was not. deleted. What puzzles me is that they were happy when the spectators were taking videos that are trending all over social media but when the poor runners were trying to capture the moments they were harassed and  told it was illegal.

That is what is basically what transpired at the 42km mark and at 46 km mark. crazy neh😃😃

Debut Runner #2

I am just reaching out about the unfair cutoffs for the Two Oceans. Please let me know if you need any information from me that you require to help us. Below is the mail I sent to Two OCeans, but they have not replied.

Non-Responded Email to TOM

Good morning,

It is with a heavy and sad heart I pen this to you. My Ultra race number is ######.

Saturday was meant to be a day of celebration, but this celebration was cut short when I stopped at the 42K cutoff after running for 5 hours and 13 minutes. My average pace was 7min23 seconds. I paced myself so that I could still be fresh to climb Constantia Nek but all these dreams were dashed off. with 5 minutes still to go to the communicated Cutoff time.

This is all confusing, and I would like to request an official explanation as to why I was cut off before the official time. Below is my time screenshot. I started the race at 5:35 a.m. with the L or M batch, as the last three or four batches were all mixed up.

Will you please explain to me where I went wrong? I struggle to accept that I was late for the cut-off.

Debut Ultra Runner #3

Hi Running Mann

Thank you for taking up this cause! I really don’t know if I would have finished the race, but if you look on my Strava print (attached) you’ll see I averaged 7.28/km, so should have had a few minutes’ grace at 42k’s based on their calc of 7.5mins/k.

For me the biggest admission of guilt was that after keeping us all standing around for about 10 mins at the cut off, then starting to shepherd us onto the buses, there was a sudden commotion and we were told we could continue the race! My fellow club runner and I decided we couldn’t possibly make the next cut off having lost at least 10 mins hanging around (and cooling down!) and got on the bus.

Hope we get this resolved – it was otherwise the most fantastic, beautiful race!

Post TOM Cutoff Explanation Announcement comment:

They really didn’t read the room. One wonders who does their comms – a world-class event should have decent PR people dealing with it.

City to City Digimag Comparison

Here we go again!

What I find interesting is that in the TOM instance the digimag information is regarded as full and final.

Whereas, in the CitytoCity marathon the digimag announcement that there would be prizes for Great Grand Masters in the 5 Kms event, just got completely ignored.

Our administration has gone completely to pot.

Debut Runner #4

When I saw your post on Twitter I wished I looked at the time we got cut off but tried my level best to calculate according to my strava. I don’t known how to calculate these things but I’m convinced had we given the opportunity to finish we could have completed very well within the time.

N batch seeding – 5:39 start.

My strava splits are below welcome to have a look at assess.

According to my strava details I got to the marathon time at 5.22 I could be the slowest runner but I still maintain that 14km in 1.38 minutes I would have pushed to my best to get there, but I guess we will never know.

We got to the 42km mark and it was closed, as runners we pleaded with the officials to let us through because we believe we could finish this was a lengthy discussion could’ve lasted for about 10 minutes since I arrived there other got there before me so they were there longer.

Eventually they opened, we run up until 45/46km that’s where I stopped my watch because the roads now were closed and busses were waiting for us.

I have never had a DNF before and this was painful to experience. They could have let us run the finish.

Mind you after the 42km cut-off and they opened up we couldn’t get water or refreshments as they were tyding up. Sad experience to be honest.

I am a typical runner of course ill come back to finish in the new year.

Thank you for your time.

Debut Runner #5

Good day to you The Running Mann,

First of all thanks for being an advocate to ALL runners. I am one of the many runners that got cut-off at the marathon mark.

I was one of the runners in the last batches, N seeding to be exact. Our starting gun went off at 05:39, unexpectedly with no gun going off for the M batch and with many runners moving up in their seeding due to no control over the batches by marshals or officials.

At 42km I came up to an unexpected cut-off as I was averaging 07:23/km, at a race time of 04:56. This left me with 02:04 to finish the last 14km. I would like to believe that if I had gotten the opportunity I would be able to pull of an average of 07:30/km over the last 14km with another 4 minutes to spare over Constantia Neck. We were also not tracked at 42km, so the last time logged on the tracking app was at 28km, before Chapmans Peak.

We were simply told to get onto the busses after much confusion between the race officials. After we got on the bus there was a call for everyone to get off but no clear communication as to why.

The busses proceeded to drive us back to the finish line but to further disappointment we were dropped off at the bottom part of lower campus just off the main road leaving us to walk about 3km back to the finish line to meet up with our families waiting for us there. This was a horrible experience.

Thanks once again for providing a platform where we as social runner can voice our experience of the TTOM 2024.

9^th Two Oceans Ultra Runner

[Note: I was copied on this email]

Dear Two Oceans Committee

I am a 34 year old male runner from Port Elizabeth. Two Oceans is the highlight of my running calendar every year. I do a lot of Ultra’s including Comrades. I have done more than 20 Ultra Marathons since the age of 21. Two Oceans is the one I do every year. This year would have been my 9th start and finish and hoped to get my blue number next year at the age of 35.

This year came to a massive disappointment and this due to the organising of the race and management of it. I took some days before writing this email as this was one of my biggest disappointments in my entire life. I was filled with anger and will try and not focus on this in my email. The reason for my mail is to make sure the Two Oceans committee understand the runners’ side and be better for future races.

I have always been in favour of cut-offs as I do believe if you miss a cut-off, you would have probably not been able to make the final cut-off in time. In this case, the cut-off was not handled correctly.

I have had a difficult 2 years with injuries, but fought through all the challenges thrown at me to get to run this year’s race. Saturday’s race started well for me and up to 28 I was running my race as planned, I struggled over Chappies with the wind and the legs not working together, but slowly down into Hout Bay, I calculated that I still have enough time to finish the race in the 7 hour time limit and with renewed energy I continued the race. To be honest, I never even thought of missing the cut-off. I have never missed one before. The first time the cut-off came to mind was when I was 100m away from the marathon mark and a guy on a bicycle came past shouting to the runners that we have 4 minutes to cut-off. I did not panic as I was now less than 100m away, but when I got into the chute at 42km, they started closing the gates and I was the second person to be cut-off. I immediately asked why they closed the gates early, and the person just ignored me and the other lady that was cut-off first. As the other runners approached, we all had the same question, WHY DID THEY CLOSE THE GATES EARLY???

The person who closed the gates just walked away. Now spectators and people from the water point all came closer and asked why the gates had been closed early. After 5 minutes of no communication the person came to the gate and said he was told to close the gate and he won’t open. Some athletes said they are just going to storm the gates and go through. We were threatened with future race bans. I was waiting for them to open the gate as we all believed that they closed the gates too early, but after 8 minutes of standing still in the chute, they started packing up the timing sensors and water point and opened the road. Only then the official got on the phone and phoned someone. The buses came to pick up the runners, but I stepped to the side of the road as my dad was waiting at 43km and came down to check what was happening. We decided to sit next to the road and wait for my wife to come and pick us up. About 20 minutes after we had stopped, the runners were allowed to continue, but with no water points, roads being open and no extra time.

With my race only starting at 05:39 (Batch N) the cut-off would have been 10:50. If we had 7min30sec per km it should actually have been 10:54. Being cut-off at 10:46 (7min18sec per km) we still had 8min04sec per km left to finish the race. I know that Constantia Nek is super tough (did it 8 times before), but the last 9km is mostly downhill and normally fairly fast. With more than 8min per km in hand. This was definitely achievable.

I will always remember 13 April as the day that Two Oceans ruined my 9th race and made me question if I will ever run it again. Hope that this never happens to any runners ever again. It is ridiculous to think of the cost we incurred to get to the race. Not even to talk about the international runners.

Debut Runner #6 – A Bad Bus Trip

I’ve seen your post on the Two Oceans Marathon cut-off, so thought I’d reach out. I was about the 10th person to arrive at the cut-off point. My average pace was 7:17/km according to strava, but I can’t recall if I immediately paused my watch. When the gate closed, so I was possibly a bit quicker.

I don’t have much to add in terms of what transpired. The Facebook comments in reply to your post and the official TOM post all detail it.

From a personal perspective it was my first ultra, all I wanted to do was finish, I knew the pace I needed and hadn’t even thought cut-offs would be a problem. Then by the time they let us continue running, I had already stopped my watch and ended the run. I’d borrowed a strangers phone and contacted the people supporting me en route, saying I had been cut-off and they could head to the finish. My muscles were cold and I’d basically mentally called it already. And I’m very glad I did after hearing what happened at the top of Constanta Nek.

What I wanted to add to the story/comments relates to the bus ride back…

Firstly, and of most concern to me is that there was no water/coke/powerade what so ever at the cut-off point or on the bus. We’d just run a marathon.

Secondly, the bus trip back took well over two hours… we literally followed behind the last runner. Our bus was full… so surely we could have been taken back to finish immediately. I know there were road closures which might complicate things.

Thirdly, we (and 3 other buses) drove straight past the finish and were then dropped off in the most obscure place, from memory close to here:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/D5hxnLG8TvWmkVba6?g_st=ic. We then had to walk back to UCT with no official guidance. I arrived on the field with the club tents and then had to borrow phones again to contact the people meeting me at the finish and try find them.

Long story short it, took us 3hrs and a walk to get back to UCT and then… only if we had a club tent or supporters could we get our first drink…

Debut Runner #7

[Note: I was copied on this email.]

To whom it may concern,

My name is ##### ##### and my Two Oceans Ultra Race number was K#####.

I was one of the runners who was cut off at the Oranje Mor Primary School. There were some officials standing down the road from the actual cut off encouraging us runners to reach the cut off area within the next 4mins before the gun was due to go off. About 30-45secs later we heard a gun go off and when we reached the official cut off area, the race official pulled us off. There were a few runners that pushed their way through and continued running however the race official had apparently marked down my race number and I did not want to proceed with the possibility of being disqualified. After standing around for a while and trying to understand why the gun had gone off early, I proceeded to walk a little further up the road and the timing board picked up my race number and clocked my time at 10:48:28.

Prior to that, my various splits were as follows:

Start time: 05:35:03 when I was supposed to start at 05:33:00 however with all the runners pushing their way ahead of us in batch K it made starting on time difficult.

5km timing board: 00:33:50 with an average pace of 06:46 per km

14km timing board: 01:33:48 with an average pace of 06:40 per km

28km timing board: 03:09:41 with an average pace of 06:49 per km

42.2km timing board: 05:13:26 with an average pace of 08:47 per km – this time is after standing around for a few minutes. I then began to walk up towards the busses that were parked further up the road on the right and my number was clearly picked up by the official timing board at the marathon mark. The race official then stopped me and stated that they would call for the busses to come down and fetch us runners.

50km timing board: 06:36:38 with an average pace of 10:40 per km – which is totally incorrect as I was on the first coach that picked up us runners from the cut off at the marathon mark and I was sitting on the floor in front where the driver was. When we drove past the timing board at the 50km mark, my number must have clearly registered when we drove past the 50km timing board.

I have attached a photo of the runners that were cut off, my Garmin overview that coincides with the distance I covered which also shows that I had not officially reached the 50km mark so the timing boards definitely picked up my number from the bus. Also attached is a screen shot of when I had reached the marathon mark and it shows I would have finished at 12h30 which is within 7 hours so I would have clearly made it as I only began at 05h35

With having run Comrades last year and training for Two Oceans Ultra this year, flying in from Durban and staying in Cape Town for a week (10th April – 17th April), it is extremely disappointing that Two Oceans could follow in the steps of Comrades last year with shambles at the marathon cut off mark. ALL races should have learnt lessons from what had happened last year with Comrades.

I would really appreciate feedback and an explanation as to why this happened and what Two Oceans Marathon is going to do to rectify this error as I am now reconsidering coming back next year should there be no compensation due to the error at the Marathon mark.

4 Time TOM Ultra Finisher

Hi Stuart

I wasn’t having my best day out. I was aware I was near the back. I hadn’t paid much attention to the marathon mark cutoff time. In Hout bay I asked a few people if they knew what time it was. Not many knew the actual time. I asked a lady she said 10:50. I checked my watch and it was 10:46. I had 4 minutes and could see the flag. A guy came down about we had 4 minutes, and the next thing the gun went off.

There was a bit of confusion if this was the cutoff or not and as we were right there we just carried on going. Someone did shout and say we wouldn’t get an official finish. And if I look at my times, there is no time for 42km – I can only guess they turned the mats off too. As I do have a time for 50km and the finish.

I am not going to dispute the cutoff as I wasn’t sure either.

My comments would be  about the cutoffs:

1) have notices up reminding runners of the cutooff times.  There are so many things going on on race day and even more when it is not your day. A clock with cutoff times below might be useful every now and again eg at half marathon mark/ 30km/40km or just as down into Hout bay .

Have a clock up at the cutoff points. I had passed the 25 and 28km marks and other than busses around the 25km mark I wouldn’t have known where it was on the road .

2)  it is hard to see if a runner who was in my area around cutoff and pushed through would have finished. Mentally it was tough. And I probably walked a lot more. So I kind of knew my race was over but I would aim to finish anyway. But I wasn’t now pushing to make sub 7 hours but rather to finish.

3) asking people along the way what they thought everyone was a bit unsure but just kept going forward.

4) people were still supporting on route, but definitely starting to pack up. Mentally these things are actually hard to manage.

5) I can see why from a race organizer point of view you can’t let runner continue even if they want to- I had run past the runner lying on the road with paramedics helping him at bottom of Kirstenbosch. These are reminders of what can happen and why support is needed on route.

So I did finish in 7:17.

It wasn’t my day.

But the cutoff was confusing and just a bit of lack of info and simple things like signboard and clock times could also be helpful (and added extra perhaps).

2 Time TOM Ultra Finisher

I hope to get some justice. Or l believe races is all about the a profit for the company

I’m so emotional.. had such a bad year ( lost my brother to cancer ) but I came back to salute him and qualifier to tun comrades

I put months and months of training.

I am totally frustrated and disappointed with this race

We got cut off when we had 4 minutes to spare .: the officials refused to listen to us

Phoitos were taken to proof our innocence and I’m sure it will make social media

It was my worst experience I ever had in running .. I have done comrades 4 times so I know how it operates and this was my third two oceans

I was going for sub6h45 for comrades qualifier ..

We were held for awhile at the gate while the officials were chatting than advised we must get into the bus

We were loaded into the bus than after a while the official asked to come out and run again

The gates were opened and I was so emotional whether to carry on as I knew I lost so much time there

I pulled myself together and continued without much refreshment stations as most closed up when they knew the gate was closed .

So imagine the mental stress yet alone the physical stress of running without Marshall’s at the dangerous points of the road and hoping to finish across the line 😭😭😭😭

I just carried on to finish the race

I want my justice regarding this .. this cost me my qualifier for comrades and my time can’t be right as we wasted so much time when cut off

I appeal to you to look at this circumstances and do the right thing

There must be honour and we were deprived of this

1 Time TOM Ultra Finisher

I can tell you 100% that this is the true story of my experience on Saturday.

When I told people that there was another cut-off at 46KM, no one believed me. I protested my first cut-off at 42KM, and reasoned with the officials that: As per my start batch, I am 4 minutes ahead of the cut-off. I managed to pass after 5 minutes of back and forth.

The cut-off at 46KM shocked me as the bulky law enforcement officer told us straight that he has strict instructions to cut us off. The runner from Denmark pleaded with officer that the 46KM its not cut-off. The situation was saved when one of the seconders came running and boldly said to the officer: This is not a cut-off, let the runners go.

I lost 12 minutes owing to the unfair and silly cut-offs. My race ended at 54KM as the 07:00mins time for us to be off the road clocked. I was literally 1KM-900m to UCT when it all ended. In 2023, I finished at 06:54.

I have no doubt that if I was not unfairly cut-off twice, I would have completed my second TOM.

Some people think social runners are lazy and unreasonable. Words like “train harder”  next time get thrown around. The reality of the matter is that there’s nothing wrong with our training. We plan our race from the 1st KM to the 56KM. We have no intentions to impress anyone, but to run our own race. Continue laughing at us and deem us unreasonable, but one day, you’ll be the victim of this unjust cutoffs. We make no apologies for our times and strategy on the race day.

As runners, we battle the same demons on the road, and there’s nothing as irritating as an unsympathetic runners. I left the road with less than 2KM to UCT because it was communicated clearly that after 7 hours, everyone must get of the road. However, the fact that the was a huge miscalculation by the race organizers and their affiliates cannot be forgotten because you want to judge us.

I urge everyone affected by this debacle not to doubt their training and preparations..We’ve had many difficult running days before, and took responsibility. We simply expect the investigation to own up to this as well.

Having said, congratulations to all the runners who took part in the 2024 TOM.

Deepest condolences to the runners who lost their lives. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families.

2 Time TOM Ultra Finisher #2

[Note: I was copied on this communication.]

This refers to your Facebook post `’We are aware of some unhappy runners being cut off today. We will do a full investigation and give feedback within the next 72 hours”.  I would like to offer some perspective on what happened.

I lined up for the Ultra Marathon on the morning of 13/04/2024. This was my third lineup.

 I was on batch M, ##### and my race number was M#####, and my gun went off at 537:02 am. At 29km my projected finish time was 6:34:24 or 12:11 pm, about 26 minutes before my cut-off time of 12:37. Understandably some time would have been lost and gained during the climb in Chapmans Peak and the decline to Hout Bay, and again at Constantia and the decline soon after. I got to 42.2 km with between 5-7 minutes to cut off. My daytime was 10:39 and the cut-off time according to the website was 10:46. That is if I understood the explanation provided by the TTOM Organisation of Gun-to-Mat properly.

I already found some runners and a whole lot of noise and they were trying to explain to the race marshals that the cut-off timing was incorrect and they needed to let us through. The furore went on for no less than 15-20 minutes before the other marshall finally opened the gates to let us through. Some runners were able to escape through the closure but most of us did not. When the marshal opened the gate he said our marathon time would be calculated at 4:45 to make up for the lost time whilst we were standing there before they opened. We left the 42.2 cut-off (counting from my 10:39 daytime) between 11:02 and 11:04.

So when the 42.2 enclosure was finally opened, we only ran up to the top of Constantia Nek, and one of the two marshals at the 42.2 km cut-off was there and he did not let us through, Mind you there is no cut-off at that point. So mine and other peoples’ races were cut off unfairly at 42.2km.

Now, when I got to the top of Constantia Nek, I was left with the new time of 1:05 minutes to finish the last 10 km, but if I added the 20 minutes that was wasted at 42.2km, that would be 1:25 minutes, which I would have done considering that the final 10km is kind with its steep declines. At the most, I would have done it in 1h20 minutes, or even to the exact time for that matter.

I am saddened by what happened and I truly wish that there is a way to correct this. According to your results, I am now sitting with a DNF that was not my fault at all.

Thank You.

International Runner

MANY runners were affected at the hastily produced barrier in controversial scenes..

Marshalls were only moments earlier saying to runners ‘you have 3 minutes’ – then the premature cut off was enforced seconds later.

Marshalls were then in fighting as to how to proceed .. 3 sweeper buses arrived ..  they then let some runners through after approx 18 mins of stopping – and announced how they would reset the time.

My wife ran up Constantia Nek – which would be closed at 46k .. police blockade .. marshals making threats of arrest.

Woeful.

7.30 pace was quoted to make the 42.2km

Last batch start 5:39

5hr16.14 for that MP

10:55 it should have been, yet never mind that short-changing – we observed 10:50.

Then the rug was pulled by inept marshals.

We are international – from the UK – a cost of over approx 2000GBP per person for this trip which was centered around this race.

She is most disappointed and said she would not return even if they offered a free bib – it would really need to be in the area of a refund.

Let’s see what Two Oceans do.

Any exposure you can give would be appreciated.

Letter Sent to TOM:

Unfortunately this email is in regards to the mess at the 42k cutoff of the Ultra – which my wife ##### ##### (number ##### – passport #####) was at the front of.

She approached the cutoff with marshals saying ‘you have 3 minutes’ – then just as she got there.. she was stopped from progressing by marshals applying an incorrect cut off time.

The situation affected scores of runners – marshals were arguing amongst themselves how to proceed – sweeper buses arrived .. I could go into greater detail if required.. yet we are here on vacation.

We are international runners – incurring great expense to make this journey to you – exclusively to run your race.

We have prepared a long time to conquer the current – my wife ##### ##### ran a great strategy within the required Marathon Pace (see attached) and is deeply upset to have been prevented from experiencing the grass finale – nor receive a medal for her efforts.

Please advise what you can do to compensate for this.

Response from TOM:

Good Afternoon #####,

Thank you for your e-mail received.

The Chair and I already had a discussion yesterday with the President of Western Province Athletics. We are awaiting a proper feedback report today. None of us were on the ground, so we need the facts.

Please allow us to investigate properly. If your fear is that this will be swept under the carpet, rest assured it won’t.

This is a serious issue that needs addressing. We are runners ourselves and understand the frustration.

Despite the unpleasant experience, we hope and trust that you will manage to relax in our beautiful City.

Warm Regards,

Liezel Short

Danish Runner

[This runner has completed 418 marathons in 76 countries over all 7 continents including the 6 marathon majors. I have written a separate article covering his experience and perceptions of the event.]

READ MORE: “Worst thing I have witnessed in 20 years of running” says International Runner with 418 marathon finishes in 77 countries

On the cutoff experience he said:

“This cut off scandal is the worst thing I have witnessed during 20 years of marathon running. I have seen stuff and many races during the years, read: all 6 majors, 77 countries, all 7 continents, many, many cities, capitals etc.

Enforcing a wrongly calculated cut in the manner as of this Saturday in Cape Town easily takes the price as the worst race experience ever!

Personally, I was lucky just exactly not to be pulled out and made it to the finish (as an unofficial finisher).”

On the cutoff times changing he said:

“Besides, the whole mechanism of adjusting the cut off within 1 day to go for the race is unheard of! You cannot expect 14000 runners to browse the internet etc during race weekend, where people are out to get their numbers, hotel rooms etc.

On race morning: no sign with the cut in the starting area, none on the route.”

Commenting on the race organisation he said:

“In terms of race organisation, for an event of this magnitude, TOM is  ot even in top 50. I could in my sleep name 50 large marathons with better organisation and double so for smaller scale events.”

Overall race comments:

Please, Two Oceans Marathon, take us through the calculation of the marathon cut off time. You reached the result 10.46 which I believe is false.

My calculation:

Start last batch: 05.39

End of race: 12.39

Marathon cut off must be 14*7,5 mins before this time if day = 105 minutes before, equals 10.54

Calculated the other way: 42.2* 7,5 = 316,5 minutes, equals 5,275 hours, equals 10.54 time of day.

In other words: you have calculated the marathon cut off 8 minutes wrongly!!!

How is the above not correct and how is this not a huge scandal?

I was lucky to cross just in the midst of the cut off process but the whole thing spoiled my race, obviously. I was at a projected finish time of 6.45 at the marathon cut, starting from batch L. My start time was close to 5.36 in the morning and I passed the cut at 10.48, ie after the marshall on bike (!) had made clear the cut off time of day was 10.50, this encounter AFTER km 42. Several others runners around heard this as well.

Hope this might add to your investigation.

Kindly, #####, from Denmark

Follow Running Mann:

• 
• 
• 
•