The Running Mann

1st October 20261st 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.

Just 96 entrants used a Northern Cape marathon as their Comrades qualifier in 2025.

29th September 202629th September 2026

Cedric the Skelm (WPA turns blind eye to senior official’s World Relays travel scam)

Cedric van Wyk is a long-serving, senior Western Province Athletics (WPA) and Athletics South Africa (ASA) technical official who appears to be scamming athletes and administrators, including other WPA officials. Van Wyk advertised an all-inclusive World Athletics (WA) endorsed trip from Cape Town to Botswana for the World Relay Championships. The trip was bogus and never materialised. However, a WPA Disciplinary Committee found that his alleged fraud was a “private contractual dispute”. Van Wyk is therefore free to continue running scams in the Western Cape as long as he is careful not to use WPA logos and letterheads. World Athletics logos, on the other hand, are fair game.

Cedric van Wyk, the senior WPA official at the centre of an alleged travel scam scandal.

27th September 202629th September 2026

What happened to Allen Barnes the WPA Finance Officer bust for fraud?

Back in January 2020 there was the strange story about the Western Province Athletics Finance Officer, Allen Barnes, who disappeared: After leaving his home at 3:30am, he failed to arrive at the Stragglers Beachcomber race where he was due to be officiating. When his car was found abandoned at Cape Town International airport the next day, many suspected foul play.

Allen Barnes, the WPA Finance Officer who went missing in action in 2020.

However, quickly thereafter rumours surfaced that he had been stealing money from WPA and, knowing that the gambit was up, decided to flee to Gauteng instead of facing the consequences. This version gained more credence when it was revealed that instead of going to Strandfontein for the Stragglers race, he had instead diverted to Grandwest Casino, ostensibly to try and win back all money he had stolen.

24th September 202624th September 2026

Guilty on all Four Counts: Adios Steve Mkasi

KZNA disciplinary enquiry finds against Steve Mkasi (A summary of the charges, hearing process and findings).

KEY OUTCOME | Guilty on all four disciplinary counts

The disciplinary enquiry into former KwaZulu-Natal Athletics (KZNA) president Steve Mkasi concluded with findings of guilty on all four charges brought against him. The independent disciplinary process, held on 15 and 16 September 2026, found that Mkasi’s conduct towards Ama Ravens athlete and Best of the Best Marathon organiser Sphephelo (Sphe) Ndlovu breached the KZNA Constitution and Code of Conduct and brought the federation into disrepute.

Before the findings were formally announced, Mkasi publicly announced this resignation at KZNA president with immediate effect on 17 September citing concerns around his “mental health”. However, it is common perception that Mkasi knew that he would be found guilty and faced removal from office. In this context, Mkasi’s resignation should be seen as a cowardly last ditch manoeuvre to avoid accountability and escape formal sanction for his despicable actions.

12th September 202612th September 2026

ASA’s Premier Athletics League: Commercial Lifeline or just another Cookie Jar?

There were several eyebrow raising revelations within the leaked June 2026 Athletics South Africa (ASA) “Acting CEO’s Report to Council”. One of these was that a new company, the Premier Athletics League (Pty) Ltd, was registered to be the “commercial arm that is solely responsible for exploiting ASA’s image rights, marketing rights as well as broadcasting rights for the benefit of the Association.”

11th September 202613th September 2026

Forbidden Fruit: Adam Lipschitz and the Garden of KZNA

There are very few South African men who’ve run under 2h10 for a marathon. This decade there have only been five. Only one of these men has also founded a successful running club that has over 600 active members. Only one of these men puts on three road running events a year thereby contributing to both the local running community and to his province’s income. That man is Adam Lipschitz.

Adam Lipschitz directly after the Boilermaker 15k in Utica, New York where he secured a PB of 43:14.

9th September 20269th September 2026

Steyn City Ultra Trail (dusting up my road shoes)

[Marathon #314 / Unique Marathon #190 / Ultra #87 / 11 July 2026]

With Comrades behind me and the very expensive mandatory gear I’d bought to run the Otter Trail in 2025 gathering dust in my cupboard, I gratefully accepted an invite to come and run the Steyn City Ultra Trail in July, opting for the longest possible distance of 53km (there are also 21km, 15km and 7.5km options).

It would be inappropriate for me to use the cliched saying that “it was time to dust off my trail shoes” because I don’t own any. More appropriate for me when running trail in the cold, dry highveld winter was that “it was time to dust up my road shoes”.

7th September 20267th September 2026

The Running Mann’s Guide to October 2026 Marathons

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

A summary of your choices is below:

5th September 20265th September 2026

Was CGA President fired by ABSA for Fraud?

Documentation has emerged that the Central Gauteng Athletics president, Karabo Mabilo Thobakgale, was debarred from the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) by ABSA Bank on 14 November 2022 as she “Does not comply with personal qualities of honesty and integrity”.