Future looks brighter for Two Oceans Marathon as new leadership takes charge

Recently elected Two Oceans Marathon board chairperson Chris Goldschmidt is motivated to continue fixing the damaged public image of one of South Africa’s most respected sports events.

Goldschmidt was chosen as the new leader of the Two Oceans Marathon after the organisation held its annual general meeting (AGM) in late September.

Before being voted in for a two-year term Goldschmidt served as interim chairperson. He was elected to that role in July and his primary objective was to mend the race’s broken relationship with the City of Cape Town.

This year has been turbulent for the Two Oceans. The biggest battle the marathon faced came after the previous board jeopardised its future by breaking the City’s event permit prescriptions for the 2025 instalment in April.

Then, former board chairperson Toni Cavanagh wastefully took blogger Stuart Mann to court for alleged defamatory write-ups on his blog. She lost the case in emphatic fashion. Ironically, Mann is now part of Goldschmidt’s board after being voted in at the AGM.

There was also all-round dissatisfaction with how the 2025 race was organised. The grievances that runners raised included insufficient ablution facilities along the route, as well as limited water stations, which led to their overcrowding.

There was also a shortage of medals for runners who finished the race. This was a result of the permit breach, as the previous Two Oceans hierarchy allowed a few thousand more runners to line up at the starting line than the City had approved.

This reckless action had the City seething and it reacted by pulling the plug on the sponsorship agreement it had in place with the Two Oceans. Cavanagh’s board fell apart in the aftermath, eventually resulting in an interim leadership structure being set up as Cavanagh vacated her post.

Mending broken ties

Goldschmidt says he and his board members have worked hard to mend the relationship with the City.

“It was an uncomfortable process, to be honest, because the previous board had made some promises after the race. Then the board fell apart,” Goldschmidt told Daily Maverick.

“So, when [the interim board] met with the City again, they said, ‘Typical, you just haven’t done anything that you said you were going to do’. Seemingly, the Two Oceans has a history of making promises and not keeping them, so that was the starting point,” he added.

According to Goldschmidt, the appointment of Stillwater Sports, a marketing and events management company, as the marathon’s staging partner ahead of the 2026 event has also helped to soften the City’s stance on the Two Oceans.

“The saving point for us was appointing Stillwater. The City believes that they are competent and capable,” Goldschmidt said. “But we still have to give the City a monthly report of what we’ve been up to. After the one we submitted at the beginning of October, the City confirmed that they are happy with the progress and with the communication. So, we’re looking good at this stage.”

Bigger is better?

Based on the permit debacle and the high demand for slots at next year’s event, there is clearly a healthy appetite for the Two Oceans. Goldschmidt says there are plans for an expansion beyond the 2026 edition, but that all depends on the City.

“Hopefully [our honesty with the City] will continue to give them confidence in us so that we can have more difficult conversations in the future around extended cut-off times and extended numbers, as well as different options for routes and finishing areas. It’s all part of gaining their trust again,” he said.

As an official who is closely affiliated with the Celtic Harriers and Western Province Athletics, the founding members of the Two Oceans, Goldschmidt is cognisant of the significance of the race to the South African running community.

When he spoke to Daily Maverick in July after accepting the emergency call to lead the Two Oceans, Goldschmidt said he was not sure whether he would stay beyond his interim spell. He said he would decide according to how bright the future looked. Recently retired, chairing the Two Oceans was the last thing on his mind.

Now, having chosen to immerse himself in the role as full-time chairperson until 2027, the Two Oceans’ future does indeed look promising.

Continuity is key

On what convinced him to accept the role, Goldschmidt said continuity was key, as well as the members’ belief in his leadership. “Well, now we can just move ahead with the things that we’ve already started. If I hadn’t achieved some of the objectives that I had set for myself, I wouldn’t have taken on the role. But the main one was to convince the City that we could have a proper event in 2026,” he said.

“That we managed to do by the appointment of Stillwater as the staging partner. They are making excellent progress on all fronts. That’s making my life easier in that we’ve got a reliable partner for putting on the event.

“Then the AGM was the next milestone. That went off smoothly. There was no conflict or any particular problems with that.

“People have also expressed the confidence they have in me. [They see me] as a fairly unambitious but thorough and level-headed manager. They think that I’m the right person for the job… I feel that I owe it to the organisation to do that.”

Ahead of the 2026 event, which will be staged on the weekend of 11 and 12 April, Goldschmidt says it’s imperative that he and his board members master “the basics at a high level”. The Two Oceans will be under scrutiny from members, the wider running community and partners such as the City. There is no room for any more missteps.

“We’ve got a few residual things to look at – some of the things that weren’t completed by the previous board in terms of reviewing the 2025 race.

“The things that worked and didn’t work, things that need to be followed up on. So that’s our first priority [as a board],” said Goldschmidt.

After seeing the Two Oceans making headlines for all the wrong reasons under the previous regime, a cleaner image will be important in the near and distant future. Any additional negative publicity may prove fatal for the race. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.