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.

I will begin with the apology I made directly on Rachel Beaton’s social media pages, “Hi Rachel, I apologise unreservedly for the comment and for any sexualisation in the original article. I rightly deserve to be called out for it. I have reflected on this a great deal, have learned from it and will endeavour to do better in future.”

I enjoy both reading and writing satire. In particular, with the series of ‘Brahgate’ articles that started after this year’s Two Oceans Marathon, I have written them all with a deeply satirical style. I also write in a very blunt and direct manner. Combining these factors, there is a fine line as to what is and isn’t acceptable. I have always prided myself on treading very close to that line.

Several people, mostly constructively, provided feedback in the past around the personalisation with which I wrote certain articles. I have never been receptive to that feedback. This scenario has suddenly brought everything into focus. I am a slow learner. I apologise for that.

I will continue to cover and call out cheating, maladministration, incompetence, unethical behaviour and other controversial topics within South African running but will henceforth do so without the biting satire and personalisation. I will endeavour to call out the behaviour rather than the person behind it. I am happy to be held to this commitment and if I get too close to or breach the line of acceptability again, I am happy to be called on that (although I can’t promise the odd bad pun or dad joke won’t slip in from time to time 😊).

With regards to the well-publicised comment I made, it was entirely inappropriate, embarrassing and there is no justification for it. I wish I had never said it but having done so, I can only affirm my commitment to making running a safe place for women. I would truly like to be part of the solution and not part of the problem.

I created The Running Mann persona almost 10 years ago. I have always had the term “Trainee Feminist” within my profile descriptions. As the sole male within our household (even our cats are female) this is not just a survival tactic but something that I take very seriously. Being blessed with two daughters, I am acutely aware of the prevailing inequalities and constant threats to their safety.

I use the term “Trainee Feminist” to indicate my commitment to helping make the world a better and more equal place for my daughters. I use the term to indicate that I am always learning and that there are always opportunities for improvement. I use the term because it is impossible for a man to truly know what women face and experience. The trainee wheels will never come off. After this epic fail, clearly I still have a lot of work to do.

When it comes to my blog, I have always deliberately looked for articles to write about strong and inspirational women. I will continue to do so. To further the promotion of women’s running, I have added a new “Inspirational Women” category heading to the blog and have linked the relevant articles here: Inspirational Women Category

When doing presentations and talks, both professionally and running-related, I include examples of strong female role models wherever possible. My Comrades talk (which is the one I deliver most frequently) has a section that uses Comrades gold medal statistics to highlight the inequality that many South African women face (this is in fact the one time in the presentation when I get very ‘serious’).

And yet, I still waded into this situation without stopping to think before I typed some satirical but inappropriate comments. I only have myself to blame and once again apologise.

I would like to apologise to my loyal readers and the vast majority of the running community who are sick of the entitlement, rule-breaking, cheating and toxicity from a small proportion of runners. In calling out toxicity, I realise that I have contributed to that which I despise. I will do better.

I apologise that the manner in which I have tackled this specific bout of cheating and entitlement has resulted in a massive deflection from the cheating itself. As previously stated, I will be writing these kind of articles in a different style in future to focus on the facts and avoid the risk of diversion.

There are many ironies in this situation. One is that ‘Brahgate’ originated when two men ran in women’s race numbers at the Two Oceans Half Marathon and the primary reason for writing the initial article was to ‘stand up for female runners’ and highlight the impact that entitled rulebreakers have on female athletes. It ultimately resulted in a proud personal moment when the articles helped to get the 10^th placed woman, Karin Mari-Dotze (who had the best day of her life ruined by two inconsiderate men), a professional running contract.

Another irony is that this and the other Gun Run cheating article, were motivated once again by inconsiderate men running in women’s numbers and to be a champion for and assist female runners. I regularly get contacted by female athletes (especially competitive age category runners) and their coaches about the trouble, lost prize money and having their moments in the limelight extinguished by men running in women’s race numbers.

This is not an excuse; it is an observation. Going to church on Sunday does not give you an excuse to sin on the other six days of the week. Hopefully my minute of madness will be forgiven.

I would like to call out some deplorable behaviour. Over the last few days, my wife has been personally targeted and attacked. How those people ‘defending women’ think that it is OK to personally attack another woman who has absolutely nothing to do with the incident is beyond me. As a result, she has had to make all her accounts private and shut down her professional writing account. Specifically, to the woman who thought it was OK to post a disgusting comment on my wife’s post celebrating our daughter’s matric dance evening – I hope you will do as much reflection about your social media comments as I have done about mine.

Whilst I have the mic, I would also like to call out the pervasive use of the ‘p’ word (predominantly) by Cape Town influencers and their entourages. Based on comments, many find this offensive and it certainly runs the risk of being demeaning to women and perpetuating the culture of objectification and sexualisation. I really do not understand the need for it when there are so many lovely words to use across our 12 official languages.

I have called for responsibility from those with large platforms and promise to do better with mine. Over the last few days, I have been doing a lot of reflection and would like to share three different stories that highlight the negative impact that posts and comments can have on the average runner, even if that was not the intention.

On Thursday evening I gave a talk at the Hermanus Whalers’ 30^th anniversary celebration. A story was relayed to me about one of their younger members who was spotted by the chairwoman running Gun Run without wearing her club kit. When questioned, the young woman said it was because “My Cape Town friends make fun of me if I run in my club kit.”

I was also really saddened to see a comment by another runner who said that she now runs extra early at 4am because she likes to run with a hydration vest but this practice has been shamed by some influencers.

The third happened during the Koppie 2 Koppie trail that I ran this weekend. As we approached the first support table, I got chatting to a female runner about the difference between road and trail running. She said that she does both but loves that in trail no one is commenting, comparing or judging one’s pace. I asked which club she ran for and she further hit the point home when she said, “Vitality, as I like to be anonymous and not be judged.”

I am undoubtedly hypersensitive to these issues at present but these stories have reinforced an important lesson: words that seem funny or harmless to the person posting them can have a very real impact on the person receiving them. If we want running to be truly inclusive and welcoming, all of us – myself included – need to think more carefully about how we use our platforms.

I will continue to stand up for fairness and integrity within running. I will continue to give a voice to the average runner. I will fight for the causes I believe in. I will continue to call out maladministration, corruption and unethical practices. However, I will do so with greater care, empathy and respect. I have called on many others to do better. Now it is my turn.

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