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Cape Town - Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon (OMTOM) organisers have issued an apology to runners for running out of water during Saturday's race.
Unhappy runners took to social media in their droves to express several complaints regarding the organisation of the race - both pre- and post the actual running of what was the 50th anniversary of the ultra-marathon and the 22nd of the Half Marathon.
Complaints ranged from the quality of the T-shirts received and long queues at the Expo, to a lack of water available and traffic encountered en route.
Due to the threat of protest action in the Hout Bay area, organisers were forced into a last-minute change of route.
Instead of going up Chapman's Peak, through Hout Bay and up Constantia Nek, runners were diverted in Sun Valley up Ou Kaapse Weg before dropping down into Steenberg and eventually making their way up Southern Cross Drive and onto Rhodes Drive for the final few kilometres to the finish on the fields at the University of Cape Town.
On
Wednesday organisers issued a statement expressing their regret
at running out of water on a 10km stretch of Ou Kaapse Weg, the steepest part of the 56km route.
Two Oceans Marathon NPC acknowledges the legitimate concerns of runners affected by the water shortage on Ou Kaapse Weg, and apologises unreservedly.
The liquid refreshment provided was in the form of Powerade, Coca-Cola and water. This was dispensed in cups and not in sachets, given our commitment to a plastic-free zone on Ou Kaapse Weg between the 26km and 36km marks as required by SANParks.
The OMTOM 2019 hydration roll-out plan was based on statistics from prior years. Unfortunately, we underestimated the wastage factor that stemmed from providing water in cups, and the increased demand for water due to the more gruelling and exposed climb.
Once again we apologise for the under-provision of water on Ou Kaapse Weg.
