Cyclists with a "Running" Problem

[SwissVan]

1 hour ago, shaper said:

Lots of frustration here at the start, windy overnight, but nothing thos morning. 

Everyone doing their own thing now running seapoint promenade 🤣

Not going to reflect well in getting world marathon majors status....

Bah humbug was looking forward to watch this live on tv….

Sign of the woke times we live in

[Mamil]

Devils choice. If the operations committee goes ahead and there's  wind related fatality(ies) its a calamity. If they cancel its a disaster for the event and anger and disappointment for the athletes. 

Wouldn't want to be the one to have to make that call. 

Its enough to see me scrolling through zwift events in lieu of planned peninsula loop, a much lower stakes decision 

[F@yino]

3 hours ago, shaper said:

Lots of frustration here at the start, windy overnight, but nothing thos morning. 

Everyone doing their own thing now running seapoint promenade 🤣

Not going to reflect well in getting world marathon majors status....

Getting world marathon majors status was probably top of the list of why they decided to cancel.

[Martin Albrecht]

I am battling to make sense of this? How bad must the damage on route have been to create a safety concern? 
 

Tents blowing over at the start and finish area suck, but it’s a problem you can work around. Participants will understand.

On epic in 2023 the wind blew the roof of the main race village marque in Hermanus,  and the structure was deemed unsafe, but the event could carry on, backup plans were made and everyone accepted the big of inconvenience. That in a “live in” race village.

 

There isn’t a breath of wind this morning in Town. I think the organisers made this call prematurely, of over cautiously. If I was an entrant, and had traveled for this event, I would be livid. 

[shaper]

5 hours ago, Martin Albrecht said:

I am battling to make sense of this? How bad must the damage on route have been to create a safety concern? 
 

Tents blowing over at the start and finish area suck, but it’s a problem you can work around. Participants will understand.

On epic in 2023 the wind blew the roof of the main race village marque in Hermanus,  and the structure was deemed unsafe, but the event could carry on, backup plans were made and everyone accepted the big of inconvenience. That in a “live in” race village.

 

There isn’t a breath of wind this morning in Town. I think the organisers made this call prematurely, of over cautiously. If I was an entrant, and had traveled for this event, I would be livid. 

Agreed, the wind was predicted days before, there should have been teams going around making sure hospitality tents and banners were properly tied down, or additional added.  Yes it was windy overnight, I am staying in Seapoint and got woken up by the wind a few times, at 4:30am the wind was already dropping, by 6am there was hardly any wind.  When I decided to do a coffee run to Camps Bay the wind was non existent and a beautiful day and half the CTM runners were doing the same run.  I see quite a few on strava who did their own marathon anyways.

It was also sold this year as a guarantee entry under world major marathon status, enter this race and when they get world marathon major status you get automatic entry. Today I spoke with people from UK, Canada, USA, Malaysia, all who had come especially to get this guaranteed entry for when CT got world marathon major status.  Even some youtubers with the world marathon tours group, I guess to promote CT and the marathon in preparation for getting Major status.  I spoke to them on the informal run to Camps Bay.  Here is their part 1 

I will be interested to see their part 2 after this fiasco!!

Too easy to cancel when the field is mostly SA runners and tell them just to suck it up.  And by the way, the first email response we have received, was sorry for you, for the inconvenience, no refund, no nothing, we feel your pain....

I doubt that will happen if it had been a world major marathon and international athletes chasing there 8th or even 9th star!!

Edited October 19, 2025 by shaper

[IceCreamMan]

5 hours ago, shaper said:

Agreed, the wind was predicted days before, there should have been teams going around making sure hospitality tents and banners were properly tied down, or additional added.  Yes it was windy overnight, I am staying in Seapoint and got woken up by the wind a few times, at 4:30am the wind was already dropping, by 6am there was hardly any wind.  When I decided to do a coffee run to Camps Bay the wind was non existent and a beautiful day and half the CTM runners were doing the same run.  I see quite a few on strava who did their own marathon anyways.

It was also sold this year as a guarantee entry under world major marathon status, enter this race and when they get world marathon major status you get automatic entry. Today I spoke with people from UK, Canada, USA, Malaysia, all who had come especially to get this guaranteed entry for when CT got world marathon major status.  Even some youtubers with the world marathon tours group, I guess to promote CT and the marathon in preparation for getting Major status.  I spoke to them on the informal run to Camps Bay.  Here is their part 1 

I will be interested to see their part 2 after this fiasco!!

Too easy to cancel when the field is mostly SA runners and tell them just to suck it up.  And by the way, the first email response we have received, was sorry for you, for the inconvenience, no refund, no nothing, we feel your pain....

I doubt that will happen if it had been a world major marathon and international athletes chasing there 8th or even 9th star!!

I believe Sanlam have offered a free place for 2026 or 2027 for those who entered today. 

[Vallende Vaandel]

1. We stayed over in seapoint and the wind had already died down at 5. Thanks to weather forecasting we knew the day might be tough, but the race organizers would've had the same data. I met a lady who stayed over in woodstock who was shellshocked from the wind and some said it didn't really die down in that section, I wasn't there so I can't comment. And you pass through Woodstock twice.

 

2. Why were there so many unnecessary structures, scaffolding and signage up? Promotional? Cause the previous years the biggest structures were the camera stands at start, the marques tent at the end and the Addidas roadside stand, no? The blown over porta potties is an oversight since October is notoriously windy, and should've been secured regardless. Or maybe I'm expecting a bit much. But my understanding is the integrity of the big structures on the road was the primary concern? Again the question is whether those structures were necessary.

 

3. I only saw the short 'race canceled' message on instagram when I sat on the pot, or else I would've missed it. Some got a whatsapp message, lots of people I met on route to the start - including myself - didn't get a message.  Not even an announcer at the start to confirm this, which would've been the professional thing to do. 'DO NOT report to the start' - all the while they fully knew 24 000 people were already inbound and a lot already there waiting in confusion. Most marshalls would've been on site anyway so why not make use of the resources to help inform and redirect the public. I don't know. Arriving at a deserted scene with more runners flocking in and no answers or at least race officials present felt wrong.

 

4. If any runner got injured due to a wind related injury there would've been public outcry. Especially the elites who would've gone at a mile a minute in the relative dark. I also toy with the idea that an hour or 2 delay would've been enough to patch things up and have us on the road again but whether the city of cape town would've allowed an extension on road closures is another story.

 

Either way the call was made, we already know this event is now a May thing and I'm desperately in search of another TOM and Comrades qualifier. Anyone here know if Peninsula is a qualifier? According to the sites I can find it's not listed

[shaper]

12 hours ago, IceCreamMan said:

I believe Sanlam have offered a free place for 2026 or 2027 for those who entered today. 

They have, they put out a social media post yesterday afternoon to this effect, I suspect as a damage limitation exercise to the growing uproar and resentment rising on social media about no refund as per the the original email sent, extract below...

"The difficult decision to cancel was made after emergency meetings of the race organising team, in conjunction with the Joint Operations Committee, consisting of Disaster Risk Management, Safety and Security, medical services, and SAPS, where both the venue & route were deemed unsafe for runners & spectators.

No Refund Policy
As per the entry conditions listed on the entry form and website, we regret that our no refunds policy stands, and unfortunately, 2025 entries will not be carried over to 2026."

[IceCreamMan]

On 10/19/2025 at 9:09 AM, F@yino said:

Getting world marathon majors status was probably top of the list of why they decided to cancel.

This majors status is a 2 way street. For the organisation it’s a feather in their cap as they now have an event in Africa too and obviously the benefits for Cape Town are huge in many respects.

i don’t think this hiccup will stop or prevent the status being bestowed. Organisers made a call, probably the right one.

Edited October 20, 2025 by IceCreamMan

[Shebeen]

17 minutes ago, shaper said:

"The difficult decision to cancel was made after emergency meetings of the race organising team, in conjunction with the Joint Operations Committee, consisting of Disaster Risk Management, Safety and Security, medical services, and SAPS, where both the venue & route were deemed unsafe for runners & spectators.
 

This call is ultimately not made by the Race organisers, who feel the heat afterwards.

You just have to hope that they have the best info in order to make the decision, and it's not a knee jerk.

I kitesurf, so watch the wind forecast a LOT. I also did the Peninsula(SA marathon champs) earlier this year where it was very windy (and a bit wild in Woodstock) but such a smaller field. I did the cancelled argus (my own ride - but good call by them) and the 2009 super windy one when portaloos were blowing over and the tunnel of death under the Civic centre stopped many in their tracks. Running in extreme wind is IMHO so much easier than my cycling.

I took a screengrab of the wind at Paarden island station here. It did gust to 30kts during the time they made the call. This is not out the ordinary. VERY easy to point fingers afterwards, I don;t know what the expected forecast was for the morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13 minutes ago, IceCreamMan said:

This majors status is a 2 way street. For the organisation it’s a feather in their cap as they now have an event in Africa too and obviously the benefits for Cape Town are huge in many respects.

i don’t think this hiccup will stop or prevent the status being bestowed. Organisers made a call, probably the right one.

The more I look at it this Abbott majors thing looks like a massive grift and but everyone is too busy drinking the Kool-aid.

[ChrisF]

54 minutes ago, Shebeen said:

This call is ultimately not made by the Race organisers, who feel the heat afterwards.

You just have to hope that they have the best info in order to make the decision, and it's not a knee jerk.

......

 

Once a structure "shows damage" the dominoes line up :

- Does it pose a risk to anybody ?

- It MUST be repaired, at least to the extent that the risk is negated.

- the scaffold specialist has to sign off that the structure is "fit for purpose".

- only once the organisers have this in hand can it be sent up the chain to update the approvals process for the event to proceed.

 

Simply no way, under our current set of by-laws, where all of this was going to happen between the wind calming down and the starting time.

 

 

As posted earlier .... reduce the structures and banners (wind sails) to an absolute minimum !!

 

 

My friends who were already at the start came back and did their own 21km route.  

[shaper]

2 hours ago, Shebeen said:

This call is ultimately not made by the Race organisers, who feel the heat afterwards.

You just have to hope that they have the best info in order to make the decision, and it's not a knee jerk.

I kitesurf, so watch the wind forecast a LOT. I also did the Peninsula(SA marathon champs) earlier this year where it was very windy (and a bit wild in Woodstock) but such a smaller field. I did the cancelled argus (my own ride - but good call by them) and the 2009 super windy one when portaloos were blowing over and the tunnel of death under the Civic centre stopped many in their tracks. Running in extreme wind is IMHO so much easier than my cycling.

I took a screengrab of the wind at Paarden island station here. It did gust to 30kts during the time they made the call. This is not out the ordinary. VERY easy to point fingers afterwards, I don;t know what the expected forecast was for the morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The more I look at it this Abbott majors thing looks like a massive grift and but everyone is too busy drinking the Kool-aid.

I checked 3 apps in the days before and had winds showing of 33km/hr gusting to 40 and dropping as the day went on, then to pick up later in the afternoon.  I spoke to some of my runners and told them to expect a windy day and to tuck in and run on someone's heels if they were into a headwind.

It was not a freak storm and the strong winds were forecast.  For gantries, banners and marquees, advise to add extra and to batten down, not just sandbag or whatever.

It was entirely preventable!  And as ChrisF says, the major structures would need signing off.  They knew the expected conditions, they knew this is the first real year of candidate status with world marathon majors

CTM in 2023 had stronger winds, through Woodstock, you were getting blown sideways as the wind funneled between the building.  The only way to keep my cap on was to turn it backwards, else it kept getting blown off

Abbotts WMM is a financial gold mine and a gigantic tourism industry, based around marathons.  In the last 5yrs it has exploded and on the back of it, is a massive financial reward.

Educate why 1.1m entered the ballot for London this year for 50,000 slots.  Each and every one of the original 6 is over subscribed.  They say you have a better chance odds wise of getting into Harvard than getting a ballot entry.

So on the back of this demand there are now tour operators, marathon tours, sports tours etc, that can guarantee you an entry.  You of course pay thousands of USD to go with these companies and this often doesn't include flights.

Then we move to charities where you can also "bid" for your entry, sometimes is hundreds of USD, often thousands.

30,000-50,000 internationals running these events, plus family, better halves bring a huge influx of revenue.  Some just flying in then out, but still spend on hotels etc while there.  Others will add on vacation after they run.

It all adds up!!

Those desperate chasing their 4, 5 or 6th star, pay fortunes, by the time they do a charity/tour operator, flights, spend, merch they could well be over USD5000 per person per trip if travelling from far.

You think they will be happy paying all this and then having the event cancelled because of wind?

Some of the other majors do offer taking insurance when you enter, whether the tour operators, I doubt it and the charities definitely wont.  How this is done, I don't know.  Maybe Sanlam will take the insurance cover for those who enter.  Be an expensive payout when they have to pay in forex for all the internationals.

Getting Abbott Major Marathon status is big business, so CTM need to up their game and not see it as just another local race and locals will just have to suck it up.  They want to move to the big league, so it comes with accountability too!

 

Edited October 20, 2025 by shaper

[milky4130]

I've also done all the windy Cycle Tours, the windy Peninsula this year, and the 2023 & 2024 Windy Cape Town Marathons. The wind yesterday was the exact same last year and the previous year in fact 2023 & 2024 was worse IMO. What stood out for me those times, the cups were blown all over the place so much for being environmentally friendly instead of using sachets. The wind was only bad through a small section of Woodstock after that it eased up all the way until the turn around where the wind becomes your friend and lost time can be made up. The metal event barriers got blown over through the Woodstock stretch and could easily have injured a runner. With the above in mind the event organiser failed us horribly knowing the wind predictions all week already and the experience from previous years. They should not have erected big metal structures, sachets couldve been used at the notorious windy sections & cups at the rest of the water points. At this stage I dont believe they deserve to be a major. No contingency plans in place whatsoever is pathetic. Delay the start, Change the route slightly to avoid the danger areas, cancel the after event gatherings on the fields if need be but let the race go on. 

[milky4130]

2009 was the other windy year when Lance Armstrong was on the start line, only a handful of folk got sub3’s that year but more importantly the race carried on. 2017 was cancelled but only after we started, I got as far as the end of the blue route. But I doubt was because of the wind, more political with protesters at Masi.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CruxW9_K09n/?igsh=MXF2OTdnYmUxMHBpbQ==

Edited October 20, 2025 by milky4130

[Bro Derek]

The thing is the race was cancelled due it's own poorly designed and poorly executed (I would say illegal) temporary structures.

In any major sporting event, temp structures are designed taking into account the worst weather conditions for 100 odd years plus 17-25 percent.

Adding branding then changes everything again. This should all be accounted for, otherwise you land up with the same scenario that occurred at Cape Town Stadium in 2012 at the Linkin park concert where 1 person died and 19more were injured due to the scaffolding tower NOT being able to with stand wind forces due to the branding.

You would think people would learn. Or not

Whoever designed and signed off on those placements, structures and branding application should take a good hard look at themselves.

It was poor management, poor execution and a terrible decision.

No excuses, the event is to blame and should be accountable

[mikkelz]

53 minutes ago, milky4130 said:

2009 was the other windy year when Lance Armstrong was on the start line, only a handful of folk got sub3’s that year but more importantly the race carried on. 2017 was cancelled but only after we started, I got as far as the end of the blue route. But I doubt was because of the wind, more political with protesters at Masi.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CruxW9_K09n/?igsh=MXF2OTdnYmUxMHBpbQ==

Pretty sure that was 2010, my first. 😃