Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 130, May 2020 | Page 26

OUT OF
THE BOX
By Norrie Williamson
RUNNING IS DOWN, BUT NOT OUT!
Sport has been devastated world-wide by the COVID-19 pandemic, with cancellations starting in January and becoming
more common by April, by which time all sport had largely come to a standstill. Entire countries have ground to a halt
and most governments, doctors, scientists, immunologists and labs are solely focused on handling this matter. The initial
speculation and predictions of January are dramatically different now in May, and each day brings new information, so
delaying decisions is a good, albeit frustrating, option in sport.
Comrades
Marathon
Cancellations should be Last Option
Events have reacted in different ways to the COVID-19 situation, and truth be told,
in March there was still very little information to work with. Generally, the reaction
was not scientifically driven, but instead driven by emotion and the perceptions of
those involved. At one level there is blank acceptance of the ban, which is relatively
easy for a small club event, where the objective is simply to ‘service’ the sport with
an event, and earn a nominal surplus to augment club funds. At the other extreme
of large events it can be a completely different and very complex scenario.
At these large events, sponsors are often contracted years before and funds are
often paid upfront, or in staged payments, such that the event organisation can
maintain cashflow. Also, venue, equipment and event products are frequently
booked, ordered, purchased or produced well ahead of time. T-shirts are just one
example, with typically a six to nine-month order to delivery window, depending on
the size and source of the shirts.
My final ‘tour of duty’ this year in event work as a course measurer and
technical official commenced with the Xiamen Marathon in China in
January, and from there I headed to Nigeria for the Lagos Marathon,
followed by the Chennai Mahindra Marathon and Navi Mumbai Half Marathon in
India. These were amongst the last major participant events around the world just
prior to lockdown.
Back home in South Africa, the Edenvale Marathon was innovative in introducing
sanitiser. Similar steps were escalated to new levels at registration, on every water
point, and at medal collection at the Om Die Dam ultra, which scraped in on
Saturday 15 March, the day prior to the initial announcement by President Cyril
Ramaphosa. The sport was basically ‘gone’ the following week.
It is a blow to the gut that has seriously winded
the sport and left it struggling for air, but
still hoping to beat ‘the count’ before
2021. The same is true of most
sports in the country, because
the potential knock-on effect
of the lockdown could
be a knockout blow for
many events, and
the associated
companies and
organisations,
unless they
are given a
chance to
climb back
to their
feet.
Cancellation of these third-party items often have an impact further downstream,
such as the purchase of material, which is then used to supply a supplier. For that
reason, these contracts usually have cancellation clauses and costs, and thus
cancellation of an event does not simply mean not having to pay the local police, or
not having water sachets or Coke and cups delivered. There are usually still large
costs to cover even if the event does not go ahead.
The Refund Debate
Therefore, calls from disappointed runners for a refund of entry fees tend to say
more about the lack of knowledge from those making the call, than it does about
reality. Let’s use the Comrades Marathon as an example. The CMA has stated in
previous years that entry fees make up less than 15% of the event budget. That
would be just R6 million from fees if the race budget is R40 million. The rest is
made up from sponsorship money.
The bigger the event, the greater the impact of cancellation. For example, the
event will have failed to ‘deliver’ on the various sponsor contracts, which means
that all, or at least a portion, of the money won’t be paid out, or may need to be
paid back to the sponsor. Meanwhile, cancellation fees still require payment, or
full payment for anything already delivered, even if items are marked with the year
and are unusable in the future. Similarly, event venues, which are often booked a
year or more ahead, often impose cancellation fees, even if the cancellation is done
months in advance. The bigger the venue, the bigger the cancellation fee.
Furthermore, large races require year-round organisation, which requires staff,
even if the numbers and hours ebb and flow with the workload throughout the
year. Those salaries have not only been paid, but also continue in spite of the
cancellation, even if they can be renegotiated at a lower rate.
Following the above, it should be clear that if sponsorship is paid back (or lost),
and cancellation costs and staff salaries paid, there will be little, or nothing, left for
Images: Anthony Grote, Paul Hamberger, Reg Caldecott & Tobias Ginsberg
26
ISSUE 130 MAY 2020 / www.modernathlete.co.za