Humorous Anecdotes, Observations & Accounts of Marathon Running & Agile Adventures.
This article provides detailed information on all South Africa’s October 2024 marathons and ultras including race descriptions and recommendations. You can find the full 2024 marathon / ultra calendar here.
[Note: I am currently unable to update the full calendar.]
A summary of your choices is below:
After a series of legal letters and communiques from a diverse group of concerned Comrades stakeholders (including former winners, CMA Board members and Comrades legends), we are pleased to report two major developments:
1. The interim CMA Board has officially withdrawn its opposition to the High Court case due to be heard on 23 October. The case is a result of the urgent High Court interdict that allowed non-KZN residents to speak and vote at the Special General Meeting (SGM) in August after KZNA issued a ‘locals only’ edict for the first time in the CMA’s 43 year history. This is expected to save Comrades over R1 million.
Continue reading “PRESS RELEASE: CMA ‘supergroup’ to engage with the interim Comrades Board”
A lot can change in a few months. On the last weekend of April, I attended the Durban International Marathon (which doubles as the South African Marathon Championships), as the guest of Steve Mkasi and KwaZulu Natal Athletics. Before accepting the invitation, I did double-check that he was happy that I would be writing things “as I saw it” and Mkasi graciously agreed, “Regarding coverage, please be as brutally frank with your experience. We need you to be as objective as possible. Therefore, we are happy for you to play your role unscripted.”
Continue reading “Durban International Marathon (where the meat is tougher than the marathon)”
Despite being banned for life from being a Board member, Sokhela and her supporters on the Comrades Board appear to be using a loophole to keep her active in the affairs and operations of the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA).
On Thursday 29 August, the Heritage and Traditions Committee met, apparently to deliberate and determine this year’s Spirit of Comrades award winners. Sokhela was previously part of the committee and was in attendance. It is unclear how members of the committee are chosen as Sokhela has never run Comrades and has only been involved with Comrades for a fairly short time.
Continue reading “Zinhle Sokhela still sauntering around Comrades House after ban”
Perceptions that those in Comrades House live in a parallel universe will only be exacerbated after a rather bizarre press conference held on Monday morning. Apparently, the intention was to reinstill confidence in a severely compromised CMA Board rocked by a number of dismissals and resignations. However, instead of ‘steadying the ship’ most viewers left concluding that the CMA is now far further up the creek without a paddle.
Unlike the Boards of major ultra marathons in South Africa, I will readily admit when I am wrong. My memories of running marathons in Ermelo were clouded by the coal smoke from this industrial town when I ran the Gert Sibande Marathon in 2016.
This article provides detailed information on all South Africa’s September 2024 marathons and ultras including race descriptions and recommendations. You can find the full 2024 marathon / ultra calendar here.
[Note: I am currently unable to update the full calendar.]
A summary of your choices is below:
This is a reflection on the series “Comrades Capture” articles and results from the Special General Meeting (SGM) held on 15 August 2024.
Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the meeting as I was facilitating an offsite for work in the Magaliesburg. However, I was able to attend vicariously through WhatsApp messages from various attendees. The extremely positive results received from the SGM did mean that I added one to two celebratory whiskies to my regular intake of beer that night (but, even so, I woke up on Friday with the clearest head I’ve had in several weeks).
After Two Oceans moved away from their traditional Easter timeslot, a vacuum appeared on the marathon running calendar. Fortunately, this year two races stepped in to ensure that the Easter weekend is not ‘all eggs and no legs’. You could either run the City to City (back after a long absence) in Gauteng on Easter Sunday or the inaugural Festival of Running (FoR) Marathon in Gqeberha (PE) on Good Friday (or if you are Julian Karp you could run both).
I decided to turn Good Friday into a great Friday with a trip to the Eastern Cape. I was particularly interested in the FoR Marathon as it was billed as the first 100% plastic free marathon in South Africa and also had the novelty of an afternoon start (the only other non-morning marathon in South Africa is the Ottosdal Nite Marathon). This allowed for a same day marathon sandwich with an 8:00am flight out of Joburg and an 8:00pm flight back home.
I originally thought that I would be flying solo as Julian sent me a “Pity to miss this but the flights are too expensive” message. A few days later he sent me, “I am getting FOMO on the Friday marathon – please forward your flight details and I will see what I can do.” This communication saga was concluded shortly thereafter with, “I’ve booked my flights. You are a bad influence on me Mr. Mann”.
Continue reading “Festival of Running Marathon (Earning your Easter eggs)”
Attorney Mark Leathers, a Director at Mc Naught and Company, representing over 100 Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) members will be fighting for the rights and voice of the running community at 2pm today (Wednesday 14 August) against a severely compromised Comrades Board and the dubious decisions of KZN Athletics (KZNA).
The CMA Board originally said it did not have the finances to hold a Special General Meeting (SGM) after a racist WhatsApp from Board member Zinhle Sokhela surfaced and the subsequent eruption of Vanillagate. However, CMA members (as per the CMA constitution) called for a SGM and specially asked for no food or drinks to be provided to save costs. The SGM is scheduled for 6pm on Thursday 15 August but the Board decided to provide food and drinks anyway. The Board also appears to have the money to waste of frivolous court appearances.
Continue reading “PRESS RELEASE: Urgent Application for Court Interdict against the CMA / KZNA to be heard in Pietermaritzburg at 2pm today”