WORLDWIDE EXCLUSIVE: Cavanagh’s Missing Marathons found (in ‘community-based’ runs that ‘does not use timing chips or publish official records’)

An eight-month mystery surrounding Toni Cavanagh’s missing marathons has finally been solved. This comes after the revelation from none other than Toni Cavanagh herself, under oath in a signed affidavit, that her 6 missing marathons, 30+ missing half marathons and the ultra distance road and trail events claimed on her CV are “based on the compilation of my own races run and accomplishments, which include events, personal training, endurance runs and self-led challenges.”

Henceforth this method of running accomplishment aggregation (which does not have to be backed up with any facts or evidence) will be known as the ‘Cavanagh Count’. As in, “I’ve only run 283 official marathons but my Cavanagh Count is well into the 1000s!”

One would have to assume that these claims can be substantiated because lying under oath in an affidavit is perjury.

However, there are no substantiations or further clarifications listed in the affidavit itself and there are no marathons on Cavanagh’s Strava profile. Cavanagh has a history of being light on the facts and heavy on the hyperbole. In fact, it is very rare for her to complete a marathon distance over the course of a week. She has failed to breach a 30km week over the last year and her largest week on record (46.1km in August 2023) was bolstered by a 30km hike.

As they say in the classics, “If it’s not on Strava, it never happened.”

Right of Reply Questions are ‘Defamatory’

In her original affidavit, Cavanagh claimed she was never given a right of reply or the opportunity to provide clarification for the article I published detailing her embellished running and professional CV. Either she needs to add severe amnesia to her list of chronic medical conditions or this is another clear-cut case of perjury.

In my answering affidavit, I included the various right of reply emails that were sent. They are also included in the ‘impugned’ articles that I published and Cavanagh formally objected to and listed in their original submission. For the record these very polite questions and a follow-up email are included below.

In her replying affidavit, Cavanagh changed her tune. Although she does not explain the contradiction (or apparent perjury) in her original affidavit, she now claims that the questions I sent to her were ‘defamatory in themself’ which was why she declined to reply.

All the court documents are available for download and scrutiny here: Court Documents Share

I asked Allan Ryninks, former board member and head of the Two Ocean Marathon governance portfolio, whether there was any formal or informal investigation into Cavanagh’s fitness for office from the TOM board and / or whether an explanation was sought from Cavanagh to explain the vast discrepancies between the running and professional achievements claimed on her resume and those in real life. A response was promised but has not been received at the time of writing.

Artificial Intelligence or Genuine Stupidity?

I wondered what would happen if one asked ChatGPT, “If I lied about running 9 marathons and actually only ran 3, what is the best excuse I can make to hide the fact that I lied?” The results are below.

This looks suspiciously close to what Ms. Cavanagh has written in her replying affidavit.

ChatGPT provided an insightful (but apparently unheeded) warning, “That said, fabricating achievements always carries the risk of backfiring.” And then offered, “Want help crafting a backup plan in case someone pushes for proof?”

I thought, “What would Toni do?” and then affirmed that I would indeed like a backup plan.

Here’s the results, which are now even closer to Cavanagh’s audacious claims (and kudos to ChatGPT for the “caught flat-footed” pun). I am sure you will agree that the “Private Challenge Angle” has been applied together with a bit of “Shift the Focus”.

Other than the other members of the Two Oceans Board* who thought it wise to throw away a big pile of Two Oceans Marathon NPC cash on a foolhardy ego trip, I don’t think anyone else is buying what Cavanagh is selling.

* I am investigating exactly what approval was done as there are several board members who deny authorising the litigation and one who apparently resigned as soon as the litigation was announced.

The propensity for generative AI to include ‘hallucinations’ in its responses is well documented. Perhaps we should be gracious and call the steady string of lies, bordering on pathological, from Cavanagh as the hallucinations of someone living inside a massive reality distortion field.

Conquering the Currant: Cavanagh-Style

Whilst Cavanagh may never have run an ultra marathon (trail or road) as claimed on her CV, I was able to find one element of truth within the document – as the sole proprietor of a takkie painting business she is indeed an “artist”.

In the conventional sense of the term, Cavanagh clearly practices extreme creative accounting when it comes to running calculations. Facts, evidence and even the basic tenets of reality do not apply in Cavanagh’s creative realm. The current Two Oceans catchphrase is “Conquer the Current” and, such is the strength of the reality distortion field on this one, that I wonder whether she will chalk up a claim of a Two Oceans ultra finish every time she eats a large bag of raisins.

The good news is that raisins (and currants of all kinds) are a key ingredient in Humble Pie. Toni Cavanagh and her nefarious ‘bittereidner’ board buddies should be eating a lot of Humble Pie in the upcoming weeks. They have overseen the worst organised Two Oceans in the event’s 55-year history. They’ve had the opportunity to stand up for what is right and have failed to do so. They’ve put runners at substantial safety risks with their collective apathy, negligence and incompetence across the trail, ultra and half marathon.

After the turmoil of Two Oceans 2025, it is entirely appropriate that Cavanagh’s leadership skills and fitness to hold office are called into question. Cavanagh does not have any support from the founding members, Celtic Harriers and Western Province Athletics. It is also understood that the race sponsors cannot wait for Cavanagh’s reign of controversy to end. Other than those closely connected to Two Oceans purse strings, there is no support for Cavanagh from the running community.

There are just three people who are still prepared to be publicly associated with Cavanagh: Ashraf Orrie (Mr. O), Nombini Zaku and Phumi Mlotshwa who remain on the board despite calls for their resignation. I have asked the three ‘bittereinders’ for comment but none have obliged. It appears that they are happy to hold the carpet up while Cavanagh brings out her broomstick for a communal ‘sweep everything under the rug’ exercise.

Candy Crush: Game Over

The Honourable Judge Yacoob was absolutely scathing in her judgement against Cavanagh and the Two Oceans Marathon NPC. In essence she said that Cavanagh and her attorneys were completely negligent in their approach and argument, had wasted the court’s time and that there was zero basis for a defamation claim. Costs were awarded on Scale C, the highest possible sanction. Judge Yacoob further indicated that although punitive costs were not asked for by my attorneys, she considered granting them anyway such was her “displeasure”.

Cavanagh was represented by Rupert Candy and Ass (whose staff and fake social media profiles continue to stalk my social media profiles). The judgement against Cavanagh was brutal. It was truly a case of “Candy Crush: Game Over”.

My legal bill is R163,000. Rupert Candy and Ass’ bill is expected to be well in excess of R200,000. The net result is that over R400,000 is likely due from the Two Oceans Marathon NPC and Toni Cavanagh. There is no doubt that Cavanagh had no intention of using her own money and chose to use the Two Oceans Marathon NPC as her own personal piggy bank.

However, Cavanagh should be is liable as the entire legal crusade was most certainly never aimed at protecting Two Oceans Marathon NPC nor related directly to her work as director, but instead just a fanciful, egocentric excuse to try and get herself out of the personal pickle that her selective memory landed her in. As one of the newly appointed Two Oceans Marathon NPC board members, I will ensure that there is a proper investigation and that Cavanagh pays her own way.

Afterword

This article highlights just one of what appears to be several outright lies within Cavanagh’s affidavits (and it bears reminding that lying on an affidavit is perjury). Two of the most apparent other blatant lies are (1) that Cavanagh claimed to be a registered runner in her original affidavit and then backtracked on this in the replying affidavit and (2) claims concerning one of her failed businesses.

In the original affidavit she claims to have held an athletics license from 2014 to 2021. This is clearly not the case as was previously proven by publicly available entry data and further verification with club sources.

In her replying affidavit (which is a response to my answering affidavit presenting this evidence) she now completely backtracks and concedes:

Jeepers Toni, it’s there in black and white.

I won’t go into detail on the business one (which could be an article in itself) suffice to say that timelines on the publicly available CPIC database completely contradict Cavanagh’s claims below.

The timeline stated above also contradicts Cavanagh’s own resume used in the AGM where she was elected to the board. The resume claims she was “Director – Head of Development” until 2021. This avoids a glaring two year gap in her CV. It also raises questions why she would present an elaborate job title for a defunct one woman business.

The company is in final deregistration. The below screen shot from the CIPC database speaks for itself as to the legitimacy of the business.

Season Recap

For those just joining this saga or wanting a quick recap:

After the 2024 event, the Two Oceans Board first gaslit their runners, Two Oceans 2024: Copycat cutoff chaos, and were then caught out lying: Two Oceans caught out in their own digimag lie

In 2025, new Two Oceans Chairperson Toni Cavanagh lied about her running and professional accomplishments. I wrote an article about it: Lies, Damn Lies & Two Oceans Press Releases (Has the Chair embellished her running and professional CV?)

Cavanagh oversaw the worst organised Two Oceans in the event’s 55 year history. Cavanagh gave herself a 95% score. I wrote several articles highlighting the negligence, incompetence and maladministration. Cavanagh did not appreciate being held to account and continued to lie in the media. A sampling of articles is here:

Where did all the medals go? (Board greed threatens future of Two Oceans)

The Two Oceans Board can’t stop lying

Two Oceans 2025: Questions for the Board

Two Oceans goes the legal route (Cavanagh’s last stand)

This particular article, How Cavanagh ‘Karened’ her way to the top of Two Oceans, highlighting Cavanagh’s hypocrisy seemed to bruise Cavanagh’s ego to the extent that she filed defamation charges in the High Court. She lost badly, the judge was brutal in her ruling against Cavanagh and gave a costs order against her and the Two Oceans Marathon NPC which, when combined with her legal fees, amounts to over R400,000.

Earlier this month Celtic Harriers asked me to join the board as one of their appointees. I’ve agreed to stand on the board until the AGM in September (a longer period will depend on a number of factors).

Cavanagh is still hanging around and being difficult. The first board meeting is today. I am hopeful that Season Two will be a short one.

I am also hopeful that in future I will be able to concentrate on positive and inspirational articles like these ones:

Benson & Legends (Ian Benson’s 40th Two Oceans ultra marathon)

Who’s the Bosch? (Two Oceans’ record breaking matriarch)

Chartering an Accountant: An Interview with Two Oceans Legend Lucille Damon

Bean there, run that (Taylor van Wyk’s first half marathon at Two Oceans)

The best way to skip Two Oceans

TOM 2025 Stories: A Medal of Honour

And if anyone is wondering about how I really feel about Two Oceans, then this is the article to read: Two Oceans (A Love Letter To My Favourite Ultra)

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