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Following her recent appointment as General Manager of the Totalsports TWO OCEANS MARATHON powered by BYD, we sat down with Renée Jordaan to chat about bringing her considerable experience and expertise in sporting events to bear in the work she does, and what challenges and opportunities the event faces in coming years. – INTERVIEW BY SEAN FALCONER
Images: Two Oceans Marathon
Having joined the newly appointed Stillwater Sports management team that assumed responsibility for the event at the end of 2025, Renée Jordaan was appointed as Operations Director and played a key role in the successful planning and execution of the 2026 event, widely regarded as one of the strongest editions of the marathon in recent years. With the focus having now moved to the 2027 event, and with some roles and responsibilities within the management team refined and updated, she has been appointed as General Manager. In this role, she is responsible for overseeing the overall management and operations of the event, while supporting the Stillwater Sports Directors and the TOM NPC Board in delivering the strategic vision and long-term growth of the organisation.
Renée brings more than two decades of experience in the sports events industry to her role as TTOM GM. Her previous roles include serving as the Race Director of the Comrades Marathon, the Cape Town Cycle Tour, and the Cape Town Marathon. Over the past decade, she has further broadened her expertise through her involvement in a diverse range of international sporting events, including the Cape Town F1 Street Circuit, the Wings for Life World Run, the FIFA African Football League, and Challenge Cape Town Triathlon.
This experience has provided her with valuable exposure to a variety of sporting codes, event formats, and stakeholder environments, and as she explains in this interview, she is passionate about delivering world-class, athlete-centric, operationally efficient, safe events, while empowering sponsors to leverage events as platforms for engagement and inspiration.
Q: Congratulations on your appointment as TTOM General Manager. Please start by outlining what the job entails, as readers may not understand the full picture of what goes into managing and organising such a huge event.
RJ: Having been part of the team that took over the event in September last year, my original role was focused specifically on the operational delivery of the event. We believed it was critical to get the fundamentals right, including the
You can create an outstanding athlete experience, but if the core elements of the event are not executed well, it will never be truly successful.
Renée in her days as Comrades Marathon Race Director, with the late Cheryl Winn, former Comrades Marathon Association Chairperson
Expo, the start, hydration stations, compliance, the finish venue, and the key logistics and operational planning that form the foundation of a successful event. You can create an outstanding athlete experience, but if the core elements of the event are not executed well, it will never be truly successful. My primary focus was therefore to rebuild and strengthen that operational foundation to the standard expected of a world-class mass participation event.
With our first year successfully behind us, the management team reviewed the structure we believe will best support our future growth and success. In doing so, we identified several areas where we could further strengthen the team. One example is the recent appointment of an Athlete Services Manager, a role focused on entries, athlete communications, and enhancing the overall registration experience. At the same time, we recognised the need for my role to expand beyond operations and into the broader management of the organisation. As General Manager, I am now more involved in the day-today running of TTOM. Ultimately, I see my role as ensuring that all the moving parts come together to deliver a world-class event while supporting the long-term growth and success of TTOM.
Q: Are there a lot of similarities in your new position at TTOM to the race director positions you filled at other events?
RJ: Definitely. In my roles as Race Director at the Comrades Marathon and the Cape Town Marathon, my focus was mainly on the planning and delivery of the event itself, while the General Managers at the time were responsible for the commercial side of the business. My role at the Cape Town Cycle Tour was somewhat broader, as I was also responsible for the day-to-day management of the organisation, including oversight of the finance, entries, and timing teams.
That said, most major sporting events in South Africa operate with relatively small management teams, which means you inevitably become involved in almost every aspect of the event, regardless of your
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