Sadly the current issue will be my final column for Modern Athlete. After 6 years of sharing humorous marathon reports from every corner of the country, I have decided to pull my monthly column (which I write for free) with the news that editor Sean Falconer has left Modern Athlete. I found this out recently when I contacted him to chat about ideas for upcoming editions, and I was shocked when he informed me that he had resigned his position a month ago and sold his shares in the business to his now former partners, Roxanne Martin and Richard Laskey.
I do not feel comfortable having my articles continue appearing in the magazine, because while I have the utmost respect for Falconer as an editor and journalist, I don’t feel I can say the same for Martin, who was editor of the infamous 2024 Two Oceans Marathon Digimag, published by Modern Athlete on behalf of the Two Oceans Marathon and was caught out in the deceit and dishonesty that followed the cutoff controversy. (https://runningmann.co.za/2024/04/30/two-oceans-2024-copycat-cutoff-chaos/)
You may recall that Two Oceans imposed a stricter cutoff time at the marathon mark in 2024, but failed to effectively communicate this to participants, including publishing two sets of conflicting cutoff times on their own website. This resulted in several hundred runners being denied a finishers’ medal and brought the Two Oceans, my own personal favourite ultra marathon, into disrepute. An international runner with 418 marathon finishes in 77 countries called it the “worst thing I’ve witnessed in 20 years of running.” (https://runningmann.co.za/2024/04/20/international-runner-says-two-oceans-cutoffs-worst-thing-i-have-witnessed/)
The Two Oceans Board initially gaslit runners saying that they ‘should have read the digimag thoroughly’, as the information was correct in there, but it then emerged that the cutoff information was not originally included in the Digimag, as proven by various runners who downloaded a hard copy of the Digimag up until the evening before the ultra. The cutoff information had never been included in previous event’s Digimags and the downloaded versions all had a picture of the expo on the page where the cutoff information later appeared. (https://runningmann.co.za/2024/05/05/two-oceans-caught-in-their-own-digimag-lie/).
After a supposed “investigation”, the already compromised Two Oceans Board explained that two versions of the Digimag had been available, ‘one live version including the cut-off information, and a version that was downloadable, that did not include the cut-off information.’ They were fooling no one.
My own investigations failed to produce a single runner who could confirm that the cutoff info was ever in the Digimag before the race, either online or downloaded. This led many to believe (and I personally think that it is highly likely) that the cutoff information was added retroactively, after the cutoff controversy. Furthermore, requested forensic evidence of the history of updates and edits was never provided (although a technical expert I engaged confirmed via publicly available datetime stamps that edits to the Digimag were made after the race).
In my interactions with Martin both during this saga and during the Comrades 2023 cutoff debacle, I have found her to be arrogant, condescending and untruthful. In addition, all evidence in the Digimag debacle points to blatant deceit and dishonesty.
Thanks for your editing and mentoring over the last 6 years, Sean, it has been an honour to write for the magazine. All the best, and hopefully we’ll get a chance to work together again in the future. I look forward to sharing some stories over a peaty whiskey sometime soon!
Afterword – Dishonesty & Deceit are “Business as usual” at Two Oceans
Unfortunately, it seems like dishonesty and deceit are the pervasive culture at Two Oceans. For those who’ve asked for an update on this article, https://runningmann.co.za/2024/12/11/lies-damn-lies-two-oceans-press-releases/, where the new Chair Toni Cavanagh has seemingly lied and embellished both her running and professional CV, it’s radio silence from Two Oceans. No denial, no plausible explanations, just business as usual for the world’s second largest ultra marathon.
Such a pity Stuart. I hope the magazine’s integrity will not be compromised. Hope to read your column elsewhere. Mike
Really sorry to hear that Stuart, I’m sure that Sean will pop up somewhere else, and you will be able to collaborate with him again sometime in the future.
Life often has very strange outcomes. What sometimes seems to be a step backwards, often becomes a step forward.
But you have done the right thing Never compromise on your principles.
Totally agree with you Stuart. Their loss.