March 2026 - The Running Mann

29th March 202629th March 2026

Running Negative Splits at Two Oceans

Running a negative split at an ultra marathon is hard. At Comrades about 4% of the starters manage this on a Down run and just over 12% on the Up run. However, when I dug deeper into the Comrades data, I found some really surprising statistics like in 2024 that over 50% of H Batch (the slowest of the herd) ran the final split from the top of Polly Shortts as their fastest average pace of the day.

There are no such surprises when one looks at negative splits at Two Oceans.

26th March 20267th April 2026

Everything you need to know about Two Oceans 2026 batch seedings

The 2026 Two Oceans half and ultra marathon batch seedings are out. What’s new, what’s different and how much difference does a good seeding make? This article explains it all.

The big change is smaller batches

The one big change this year is that the seeding batches are much smaller, downsizing from about 1200 to 770 runners per batch in the half and just below 700 per batch in the full. This has resulted in an increase in the number of batches to 19 in the ultra and 23 in the half.

All batches will leave at two minute intervals* and, in the event that there is a start time delay, the in-race cutoffs will automatically be adjusted based on the time that the last batch actually starts. I will do a separate article on the cutoffs but I can confirm that they are both sensible and fair in 2026.

21st March 202621st March 2026

Barberton Makhonjwa Mountain Marathon (The School of Rock)

[Marathon #286 / Unique Marathon #176 / 13 September 2025]

After travelling all over the country to get my marathon fixes, it’s good to know that there are still a few marathons that can take one’s breath away – both literally and figuratively. However, I was not expecting Barberton to be that place. It is a town I had never visited and I might never have found my way to the eastern extremities of South Africa if they did not host a marathon.

A breathtaking sunrise from my accommodation near the start, the hills to follow would quite literally take my breath away again later in the day.

10th March 202610th March 2026

Should you use your marathon, ultra or Comrades time for your Two Oceans qualifier?

In past years, it was easy to determine whether you should use your fastest marathon time or an ultra as your qualifier for Two Oceans as the seeding batches were large (typically 2000 to 4000 runners per batch), there were just six batches and there were published “time tables” for each seeding per ultra distance.

The move to dynamic allocation of seeding batches and much smaller batches makes this process a lot more difficult. In 2025 there were 14 batches (each with 800 – 900 runners) and this will be increased to around 20 in 2026. Hopefully this article will make the process transparent and which time to use as easy as possible.

8th March 20269th March 2026

The Running Mann’s Guide to April 2026 Marathons

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

A summary of your choices is below:

4th March 20264th March 2026

Brand Loyalty, Chance Encounters & Running Milestones

I have big flat feet. I once had a podiatrist who told me, “With feet like that you shouldn’t be running marathons.” Naturally I found another podiatrist.

Some big, flat slabs of meat.

When I first started running, I got something called compartment syndrome which is where your feet roll and cause the small muscles under your shin to expand, similar to if you were doing bicep curls. When these expanding small muscles hit the shin bone it quickly escalates from severe discomfort to excruciating agony.