Ian Benson Archives - The Running Mann

22nd September 202523rd September 2025

Liars, Cheats & A Tale of Two Chairs: What to Expect at the Two Oceans Marathon NPC AGM

After what was undoubtedly the worst organised Two Oceans in the event’s 55-year history, and the shambles that followed, it’s great to see (and be part of) a much needed turnaround. However, we are still not quite out of the woods and this year’s AGM will be an important checkpoint to hopefully cement in a return to runner centricity and good governance.

Investigations Still Needed

There is likely to be a lot of discussion over the various issues experienced at the trail, ultra and half marathon as well as allegations of incompetence, corruption and extreme opportunism against specific board members and staff. The primary focus of the interim board, of which I was a member, has been on ensuring that the 2026 race goes ahead.

Personally, I have pushed for accountability and that formal, transparent investigations are conducted into those implicated. Some headway has been made but, because of the timing, this will be a problem for the post-AGM board to deal with.

Some of the accountability issues that still need formal investigation are:

4th April 2025

The P.I.R.A.T.E.S. Code

I asked 41-time Two Oceans ultra marathon finisher Mark Raubenheimer for a “few quotes, comments and / or anecdotes” on Ian Benson for the article I was writing on Ian’s 40th Two Oceans.

A couple of days later Mark sent me back an email saying, “I think I ended up going down a rabbit warren when you reached out to me. I wrote this as an article but am not precious about it so happy for you to use the content as you see fit.”

Pirates clearly have a tendency to go ‘overboard’ (although I understand this is known as ‘walking the plank’ in Greenside lingo).

I did use a few segments in my main article on Ian (Benson & Legends (Ian Benson’s 40th Two Oceans ultra marathon)) but I thought this would be an ideal guest blog. So here it is courtesy of Mark Raubenheimer…

3rd April 20253rd April 2025

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

Prelude

When doing research on living legends in the running space like Ian Benson, a rich source of information are their club mates. I therefore asked a mutual friend, David Case, if he has any anecdotes, stories or snippets that he could share with me. David started his description of Ian with, “He’s a typical macho male.”

David is something of a kindred spirit when it comes to beer and, as is typical of his kind, framed the follow-up sentence in a drinking context, “Ian is always in the bar but he’s not one to be holding up the bar.*”

* After writing this article, I have to say that I think David got this one wrong as it would be more appropriate to say that Ian is normally the one ‘raising the bar’.

30th March 202530th March 2025

What a Mess! (A Two Oceans Communication Breakdown)

Lest I be accused of trolling, I rarely comment on the social media posts of South Africa’s big races. Who needs casual trolling anyway when you can unleash your inner ogre with a 4,000-word rant on your blog? However, I could not resist breaking out from ‘read only’ mode when the below post from Two Oceans Marathon appeared on my Facebook feed.

The phrase that caught my attention was, “The stakes are high: R250,000 for the male and female champions, with an additional R250,000 for anyone who shatters the course record…”.

28th March 202528th March 2025

Blue Number Bummer (Two Oceans downgrades their loyalty program)

A Two Oceans Blue Number is quite literally a badge of honour. In terms of street credibility for the recreational South Africa distance runner, it is second only to Comrades’ Green Number. Many a Two Oceans ultra marathon novice lines up at the start in Newlands for a maiden voyage, hoping to one day be standing there in a Blue Number. I certainly did when I stood at the start of my first Oceans in 2002.