Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 131, June 2020 June 2020 | Page 15

THE RUNNING MANN
LOSKOP ULTRA
MARATHON
The Loskop Marathon, run from Middelburg to the
Loskop Dam in Mpumalanga, is the largest 50km
race in the world, and fourth-largest ultra-marathon
in South Africa. The race has steered clear of
controversies that have occasionally plagued the
other big ultras, and is known for its impeccable
organisation. That said, last year the race came very
close to being cancelled as there were violent protests
along the route on race morning. However, the Loskop
organisers managed to keep their heads and pulled
off another successful event.
sponsor should get the credit for the race being able
to offer runners full refunds, but the best I could get
was, “The Loskop Marathon Series and Middelburg
Marathon Club will cover the refunds for the 2020
Loskop Marathon.” As for costs incurred to date,
unfortunately I can’t shed any light on how this
compares to other races, because all I got was, “The
committee doesn’t see the relevance or significance
of the costs relating to the cancellation of the Loskop
Marathon.”
first cancelled race to offer a virtual run. Entry was free
for existing entrants and runners were allowed a week
to complete the 48km, due to being held during full
lockdown, when no outdoor exercise was permitted,
in order to earn a race medal.
A total of 899 participants completed the virtual event.
Of these, about 500 were existing entrants and 400
new entrants, including 57 foreign runners from as
far away as Australia and India. One of the finishers
was a 70-year-old man who ran seven kilometres over
seven consecutive days on a treadmill to complete the
‘ultra’ after being entered by his daughter.
Spot prizes like the latest Suunto 7 watch and Irene
Versus socks were awarded to participants, but the
major cost of South Africa’s first virtual ultra-marathon
were the courier charges to deliver the medals.
Once all books were balanced, the club was left with
a marginal profit of R20,000, and this money has
been used to buy blankets and masks for two local
orphanages.
The Irene Ultra is the exception amongst the ‘no
refunds’ races in that they managed to turn a negative
situation into a positive outcome, and they received
dozens of complimentary messages from happy
runners after the completion of their virtual ultra.
Loskop Marathon
This year’s race was scheduled to be the week
after the Two Oceans Marathon, on 18 April. If the
communication from Two Oceans and Comrades left
much to be desired, it was totally non-existent from
the Loskop Marathon Series (LMS). An announcement
of the race cancellation was posted to the race
website, but there was no formal communication to
entrants.
Based on the ‘no refund’ statements of other races,
entrants thus assumed that their entry fee would
not be refunded. Enquiries as to whether peripheral
charges like bus fares would be refunded reportedly
also went unanswered. It therefore came as a big
surprise when, after two months of silence, a formal
communique was sent out announcing that all 6000
entrants would be receiving a full refund.
Cards Close to the Chest
The race is organised by the Middelburg Marathon
Club with a sub-committee that is appointed for
the annual event. This LMS committee is filled
with volunteers comprising representatives from
Middelburg MC and various sponsors involved with
the event. I found the LMS surprisingly cagey about
the finer details of the refund decision, with most of
my detailed questions being deflected back to the
official media release. However, they did make it clear
that, “The focus of the Loskop Marathon for the past
34 years has and will continue to be the development
of sport and recreation in South Africa, as well as
supporting various local charity initiatives, not for
financial gain.”
I was especially curious as to how they were able
to refund runners in full and whether any specific
WALLY HAYWARD
MARATHON
Run on Workers’ Day (1 May), the Wally Hayward
Marathon is traditionally the last Gauteng qualifier for
Comrades. This is a popular, well organised event that
also includes a half marathon, 10km and fun runs.
The ‘Wally,’ as the race is affectionately known, is the
fifth-largest standard marathon in the country, and the
largest impacted by the COVID-19 lockdown to date.
Last year almost 13,000 people participated across
the various events.
The Wally is organised by a sub-committee of
volunteers from the Alpha Centurion Runners and
Walkers club. The race does not employ full-time staff
but does contract some temporary support staff in the
five months leading up to the event. The organisers
initially clung to the hope that the current COVID-19
situation would subside and that they would be
allowed to host the Wally at a later date, as well as the
possibility to be rescheduled as a qualifier. However,
once it became clear that this was not possible, the
difficult call was made to cancel the race.
Despite paying over R750,000 to date for goods
and services, the event confirmed that they would
offer all entrants the choice of a full refund, deferral
to the 2021 event, or to have their entry fee donated
to charity. In stark contrast to Comrades, who kept
their substitution entries open, the Wally Hayward
organisers had the foresight to suspend pre-entries as
the COVID-19 crisis spread, with the result that just
under 3000 of the expected 14,000 entries had been
received when the entry system was put on hold.
Images: Courtesy Irene Ultra & Loskop Marathon
Race director Francois Jordaan summed up the
impact of the 2020 cancellation: “Some of the
expenses, like the medals, are ‘recoverable’ in a sense
that we can use them next year by changing the
ribbons. However, the biggest portion of our expenses
cannot be recovered. We are yet to determine the full
impact. This will only be done by the end of June. Of
course, next year will not be an easy one either, as we
deferred the entries. So, the real financial impact will
have to be assessed over a two-year period.”
Supportive Sponsor
As for how they were able to offer refunds and
deferrals, it seems that the race sponsor (MiWay
Insurance) should get the credit. MiWay had already
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