Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 131, June 2020 June 2020 | Page 11

THE RUNNING MANN 2021, but this is still to be negotiated with the City of Durban.) Another major expense is that of the race T-shirts and goody bags. Due to the scale of the Comrades, the costs for the race shirt and goody bag had already been incurred before the event was in jeopardy. As for whether they are fully sponsored or not, Cheryl provided the following clarification: “The CMA pays for goody bags. Prior to impact of COVID-19 and if race had gone ahead race T-shirts would have been sponsored by Mr Price. However, as a consequence of race cancellation, the CMA is having to contribute half of the cost.” The CMA was quick to point out that the value of the goody bag exceeds the R600 entry fee, but the promise of a shirt and goody bag did little to placate the irate athletes, many of whom said that they would not wear the shirt of a race that they had not run. (On that note, 2020 Entrants that do not want their goody bag can notify [email protected] and their shirt and contents will be donated to a local charity.) Checking the Income Statements Comrades has two primary means of income: Entry fees and sponsorship. With the race being cancelled, the CMA receives only a portion of the sponsorship funds. Race sponsors are losing out on the majority of the exposure that their brands would have received, and are perfectly within their rights to hold back a significant percentage of the promised funds. As a registered Non-Profit Organisation, the CMA’s financials are freely available. Last year there was a modest R753,000 surplus, but a substantial loss totalling R3.3 million was incurred over the preceding two years. This deficit was largely due to the loss of a headline sponsor, and an incorrect 20-year-old accounting decision that VAT payments were not required on international entries, which resulted in a large back-payment to SARS after a voluntary disclosure when it was detected by the CMA Board Finance Committee. The CMA can hardly be accused of squandering money. Over the last few years, they have operated under what were essentially austerity measures, delaying ‘optional expenditure’ like building maintenance costs and the filling of two staff vacancies. Winn described the CMA’s financial situation as being “comfortably solvent” before the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, the long overdue building maintenance was finally completed and two vacancies filled in the first quarter of 2020. Unfortunately, these expenses have placed further pressure on the 2020 financials. Breakdown in Communication Where the CMA has perhaps been lacking is in regular, open and transparent communication. Many of the misconceptions, misunderstandings and negative sentiment could have been avoided with better and more frequent communication to the entrants. This was further exposed when a poorly timed Virtual Comrades Race announcement, with 5km, 10km, 21km, 45km and 90km options, was made a few days after the race cancellation. The press release stated that this was free to all 2020 Comrades entrants, but there would be a R150 entry fee for everyone else. However, the social media promotional posts neglected to mention the “free to existing 2020 entrants” clause, which resulted in a fresh social media furore that “Comrades is all about the money,” and “I can’t believe they’re trying to fleece us again.” Nevertheless, the first entrant to sign up for Race the Comrades Legends was Louis Massyn, who would have been aiming for a record 48th consecutive Comrades medal in 2020. And in the end, this virtual challenge attracted some 43,000 entries across the five available distances. Meanwhile, a detailed “Open Letter to Comrades Marathon Runners” was sent out a week after the race cancellation from the desk of CMA chairperson Cheryl Winn. This did an excellent job of explaining the financial position and why refunds could not be provided. However, one could not help but think that sending out this communication before the formal cancellation, or at the time of the announcement, would have gone a long way to avoiding the resultant controversy. Probably the most pertinent information for the aggrieved runner was at the end of the letter: That the intention, if financially and legally possible, is that 2020 entrants will be given substantially discounted preferential entries for the 2021 Comrades Marathon Centenary Race. Ethics of Substitutions Keeping the substitution entries open after the COVID-19 lockdown without explicitly clarifying the refund policy appeared to be, at best, unethical, and at worst, totally unscrupulous. However, digging deeper it appears that is was more an unwillingness or inability to adapt to the radically changed landscape that COVID-19 presented. According to Winn, “It was an unfortunate coincidence that could never have been foreseen that the substitution period, which had been cast in stone in October 2019, happened to coincide with the onslaught of COVID-19. The CMA did nothing to actively entice runners to take up substitutions and it was simply a facility that was available, and to which 485 runners chose willingly to avail themselves.” Unfortunately, this lack of accountability is like the wicked witch throwing up her hands, claiming it’s not her fault that Hansel and Gretel were enticed to enter her gingerbread house. However, in the CMA’s defence, keeping substitutions open was more illconceived than greedy, as the additional revenue from the 495 substitution entries is marginal in the bigger picture (around R100,000 from the R200 per runner substitution fee). Special Treatment for Internationals The final charge levelled against the CMA was their decision to defer international entries whilst loyal South Africans were ‘shown the middle finger.’ International entrants are a minority of the field and, having paid over six times the local entrance fee, have bought themselves a ‘business class ticket’ to the event. This entitles them to a little extra legroom, and keep in mind that the income from international entries helps to subsidise the cost of local entries. The Bottom Line As to whether or not the CMA expects to have a funding surplus or deficit at the end of 2020, Winn responded, “Unless we are able to secure COVID-19 relief funding from the government, for which we are in the process of applying, we will most definitely reflect a deficit for the year.” There are no winners in the COVID-19 pandemic. Communication and transparency from the CMA in the lead-up to the cancellation announcement definitely left a lot to be desired. However, looking at the facts and figures, one cannot fault their decisionmaking. The CMA has come up with the best possible lose-lose scenario. Your R600 entry fee is not making anyone rich, and while there are a lot of South Africans who could use an extra R600 during the pandemic, securing the long-term future of the world’s greatest ultra-marathon is more important. 11