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With just under a month to go before runners from around the globe gather to beat their personal bests at the world’s most beautiful marathon, the real race is on to raise much-needed funds for local causes.

#RunforCharity – a remarkable history of charitable fundraising via the Two Oceans Marathon

In 2019, the Two Oceans Marathon, through the Two Oceans Marathon Initiative (TOMI), became the first running event in South Africa to raise more than R1 million on the GivenGain platform. Then COVID hit, underscoring the need for ever more grassroots upliftment projects. Now, it seems, the Two Oceans Marathon NPC and participants of the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon are determined to surpass 2019 charity fundraising numbers.

As an official TOM fundraising partner since 2018, South Africa’s premier online fundraising platform GivenGain is again empowering runners to #RunforCharity and meet this mark.

ABOVE: Friedrich Meisenholl wants to make a difference in the lives of vulnerable and orphaned children, by raising funds for Mosaic SA. His half-marathon fundraiser has a very specific target:
R21 000. “The goal is R1 per every 1 meter of the race!”

The power of mass participation events

So far, participating runners have raised just under R500 000 for the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon. More than half of those funds are directly from around 150 Half-marathon and Ultra-marathon personal projects hosted on GivenGain. And with just under 28 000 runners taking part in the iconic race this April, there is still enormous fundraising potential.

This year, participants from eight different countries are fundraising in TTOM events on GivenGain, while donations have come in from 15 countries, bringing valuable foreign currency to South Africa. All funds are paid directly to the charity chosen by GivenGain each week.

Charitable causes are the real winners

With or without a charity entry, this year’s TTOM runners are making a difference by supporting causes they care about. This year’s top causes are animals, cancer and children.

Sporty supporters of the Cape of Good Hope SPCA, South Africa’s oldest animal welfare organisation, have raised over R72K and counting. CANSA, a leader in the fight against cancer in SA, will benefit from more than R27K in donations. Similarly, Mosiac SA — an organisation that supports the orphan-care sector — has received over R19K from GivenGain fundraisers.

ABOVE: Inspired by Honey and Buddy, his two adopted shelter dogs, Sandeep Singh will be running the 2023 Totalsports Two Oceans Half Marathon and raising funds for a cause close to home — the Cape of Good Hope SPCA.

Going for the R1 million milestone

“We’re confident that TTOM fundraisers will reach the R1 million mark and we encourage all runners to set up a project to make a difference for their favourite charity. Anyone participating in this year’s race can fundraise — with or without a charity entry,” says Jannie Smith, Regional Manager for Sub-Sahara Africa at GivenGain.

“We are really heartened by the many Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon 2023 runners who are helping the event make an impact long after it is over, by embracing the spirit of the Two Oceans Marathon Initiative (TOMI), the philanthropic arm of the Two Oceans Marathon organisation. These runners have an amazing sense of wanting wellbeing for not only themselves, but as many others as possible, and we salute them,” says Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon Race Manager, Hilton Kearns.

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