The Running Mann

9th November 20269th November 2026

Why I won’t wear the shirt from a race I have not run

I started running at the beginning of 2001 to lose weight. The catalyst was my filterless father (who is as blunt and direct as his oldest son) picking me up from the airport on a trip back ‘home’ to Cape Town for the Christmas holidays. He’d probably not seen me in the flesh for about a year.

Instead of a friendly greeting, a scowl came over the Old Mann’s face as gave me a once over up-and-down scan and said, “You look like a rich, fat banker!”

6th November 20266th November 2026

Water Woes (Why do races keep running out of water & what to do about it?)

Every year there are a few races that run out of water but at the end of October the taps seem to run totally dry and I was tagged and DMed about three different races with water issues.

Races are getting fuller, the weather is getting hotter and with the World Meteorological Organization declaring a Super El Niño that is projected to last through to early 2027, it looks like we are in for a rough ride if race organisers keep failing their customers and running administrators keep failing their constituents.

The Jetour 10km in Cape Town caused a social media furore on the Cape Town Runners Community Facebook group with a number of different discussions popping up about the complete lack of water – and apparently marshals and medals as well (see Cheryl Louise Jamieson’s post “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE! RUNNERS DESERVE BETTER!”https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19i2Mf4tLS/).

2nd November 20264th November 2026

Beer Lover’s Marathon (Best Birthday Present Ever)

[Marathon #311 / Unique Marathon #189 / 17 May 2026]

Bruce Fordyce likes to say that if you want to be a great marathon runner the most important criterion is to “pick the right parents”. However, if you want to run a great number of marathons then the most important criterion is to “pick the right wife”. Fortunately, I chose well.

These days my wife and I try to do experiences rather than buy physical gifts. I was heading towards a milestone half century birthday and, in late 2025, Kathy suggested that we run the Beer Lovers’ Marathon in Liège, Belgium to celebrate. I did not take much convincing.

22nd October 202622nd October 2026

Impastor Syndrome (The Refilwe Dzonzie story)

I feel sorry for most influencers. Truly I do. They score a viral post, get a massive shot of dopamine and then spend the rest of their life chasing the next social media high. Social media is a drug – and addiction brings out the worst in people. It’s hard to be an influencer and keep your integrity.

That is what I find truly sad about the story of Refilwe Dzonzie. She was inspiring people. She could have continued to inspire people. And yet she sold her soul (and her credibility) for a fake marathon finish.

In a post that was subsequently deleted, Dzonzie claims a 4h36 marathon finish, repeatedly denied “cheating” when challenged but then later admitted to running only 28km of the route.

18th October 202619th October 2026

The Running Mann’s Guide to November 2026 Marathons

This article provides detailed information on all South Africa’s November 2026 marathons including race descriptions and recommendations. You can find the full 2026 marathon / ultra calendar here.

A summary of your choices is below:

12th October 202612th October 2026

Taking Accountability

Over the years I have called for accountability from race organisers, administrators, media and prominent people within the South African running community. It is time for me to practice what I preach and take my own accountability. I do so both sincerely and humbly.

With my style of writing and covering the topics that I do, I knew that there would be a time when I would need to write an apology. I just never thought it would be for making sexist remarks.

11th October 202611th October 2026

If the cap fits (Limpopo Leon’s illegal DQ rampage)

This morning Abram Mogashoa finished second at the Seshoga Marathon 10k event. He should have won R1,500 but on crossing the finish line he was told by Limpopo Athletics referee Leon Bannau that he was disqualified for wearing an “illegal cap”. When he protested, Bannau told him that you can only run in an “official club cap”.

This is complete nonsense. Leon is making up his own rules. Ironically Mogashoa runs for the Run Alex club in Joburg and was wearing the official cap from the Run Alex 10k. Mogashoa has never had an issue running with this cap in any other province.

5th October 20266th October 2026

Gun Run 2026: An Arsenhole of Cheats

For some reason Cape Town has become the centre of the running influencer and cheating culture. Whether this is correlation or causation is currently unclear. I received so many tipoffs about different instances of entitled cheating after this year’s Gun Run that I decided it deserved its own article.

I have already covered the serial cheating of Beaton’s boy, Brad Smart, which you can read about here: Brad Smart’s dumb moves (another entitled serial bandit and batch jumper)

Batch Jumping

This is the easiest type of cheating to detect. If you batch jump, you will get caught. Runners are assigned to a batch based on the predicted time they submitted when entering. Participants are allowed to move back in the batches if they’d like to run with a friend but moving forward is a big no-no.

1st October 202613th October 2026

Brad Smart’s dumb moves (another entitled serial bandit and batch jumper)

I’ve written a fair amount about children of private school privilege and their belief that the rules don’t apply to them, most notably during the Two Oceans half marathon BrahGate scandal.

As a quick recap, two Bishops’ old boys illegally ran the race in banditted bibs that they had obtained from female entrants. They ran times fast enough to crack the Top 10 for women thus creating chaos, controversy and stealing a special moment from the actual Top 10 female athletes.

Two’s company and three’s a crowd. Another prominent Bishops’ old boy, Morgan Newman (a former Stormers rugby player and current Good Hope FM DJ), was found not only to have run in a woman’s race number but also to have doctored the race bib by ‘arts and crafting’ his name in the same font and colour to hide his deceit.

30th September 202630th September 2026

(Digging deep at) The Big Hole Marathon

[Marathon #293 / Unique Marathon #180 / 22 November 2025]

It had been a while since I’d travelled to Kimberley but the addition of the Diamonds & Dorings Kimberley Big Hole Marathon to the race calendar necessitated a return to the flatlands of the Northern Cape. The Northern Cape is by far the least populated province in South Africa and marathons in the region are similarly sparse. This is perhaps best highlighted with the stat that only 96 people used a Northern Cape marathon as their Comrades qualifier in 2025.