Substitutions

Substitutions – Everything You Need to Know

It is your responsibility as a runner to find a replacement / withdrawing runner. Please join the official Substitutions Group on Facebook to find a suitable candidate. This group will be made public once substitutions open.

• You can only substitute a runner in the same race (e.g. a South African Half Marathon entrant can only be substituted by a South African resident wanting to run the Half Marathon).
• Once the substitution is done (meaning that somebody has officially taken over your entry), you cannot enter the same distance again.

The Substitution Process: Important – Any Substitution Not Done Via This Process is Invalid (Please also see ‘Warning: Fake entry sales, charging extra, swapping and running with someone else’s number’ further down this page)

Opens: 06 January 2025, 1 PM

Deadline: 03 March 2025, 12 PM (Midnight)

Substitution admin fee: R210

Other costs may apply (e.g. temporary licence fee in the Half Marathon).

Do not pay the original entrant directly. All transactions must be facilitated via the TOM entry system. TOM will not be held liable should you end up with a non-valid / fake / non-existent entry due to not going through the TOM entry system as per these guidelines for payments and fees relating to substitutions.

The Entered Runner (withdrawing and to be substituted)

1. Log into your TOM profile.
2. Click the ‘Applications & Entries’ tab on the left of your profile dashboard, where you will be taken to your current entry summary.
3. Click the ‘substitute’ button. The voucher number will be displayed as soon as you do this. You will also receive an email with the voucher number and Substitution process details.
4. Send this voucher number to your substitute runner.

The New Runner (taking over the entry)

1. Log into your TOM profile. If you don’t have one, create a profile.
2. Click the ‘Applications & Entries’ tab on the left on your profile dashboard.
3. Click on ‘New Application’, and insert the voucher number in the ‘Entry Voucher’ section on your dashboard (at the top).
4. Click on the distance that you are creating a Substitution entry for, and complete your entry.
5. The system will prompt you to enter your outstanding information, if any, plus personal and race-related information. Please follow these prompts to the payment stage, where you will be charged the Substitution fee.

Refunds, Merchandise and Ownership

• The timing chip is temporary and included in the entry fee.
• Parking, Medal Engraving, Temporary Licences & Hospitality Package purchases will be refunded to the original entrant.
• Donations made to the Two Oceans Marathon Initiative (TOMI) will remain with TOMI for distribution to our official beneficiaries.

All relevant Substitution Process payments and refunds will be facilitated via our TOM Entry System. No money may change hands between the withdrawing and substitute runner.

Refund process

1. Refunds will only be done once the Substitution Entrant has finalised and paid for his/her entry, as a first step.
2. Once you have substituted out, please send your proof of banking details to substitutions@twooceansmarathon.org.za so that your refund may be effected. Upon receipt of your banking details, please kindly allow 30 working days for your refund to be processed.

Important Notes

• If nobody takes over your entry it will remain your valid entry, and can be used by you on race day.
• You are not allowed to give your race number to someone else. Allowing another individual to run with your race number (and your entry) is against TOM’s rules, and will result in disciplinary action against yourself and the individual running with your number.
• All rules, terms and conditions that apply to the original race entry also apply to runners that substitute.
• Runners that have entered the event via Substitution cannot release that entry for Substitution again.
• Runners substituting in order to run the Ultra Marathon must have qualified and belong to an athletics club in order to substitute (if entries sell out).

Warning: Fake entry sales, charging extra, swapping and running with someone else’s number

• Fake entry sales: The Ultra Marathon and Half Marathon are oversubscribed. The demand is much higher than the supply. And unfortunately, that means that there are unscrupulous individuals who will abuse this by scalping entries – much like concert tickets. We keep an eye on third-party reseller sites and request that the ads are removed, but our team also needs to focus on organising the event, logistics and customer care, and cannot spend 100% of their time blocking fake entries. Please do not offer additional money out of desperation for an entry. Do not pay anyone in return for a substitution voucher. Only you can help to break the cycle of fake entry sales.
• Charging extra for an entry and/or direct monetary transactions between two parties are prohibited: To eliminate these fraudulent activities, we have moved all substitution-related transactions online. All payments and refunds will be facilitated online via the TOM Entry System, and no money may change hands directly between parties.
• Swapping entries outside of the Substitution process is strictly prohibited.

Ultra / Half Marathon Entry Profile Changes and Substitutions

The following Ultra Marathon and Half Marathon entry and entry profile changes may be made online on the TOM entry system. All changes (other than substitutions) must be made by the Profile Update Deadline.

Current entrants

• Club and Club licence number updates. (It is essential that if you’re an Ultra Marathon runner, or a Club Member in the Half Marathon, you update your details to reflect this current year’s Club details.)
• Qualifiers (Ultra Marathon)
• Qualifiers for seeding purposes (Half Marathon)
• Personal, medical and contact details
• Releasing an entry for substitution (a voucher number will be generated for your entry)

Prospective entrants

• Creating a substitution entry, using the voucher number supplied by a withdrawing entrant
• Finalising a charity entry (the voucher number received must be used to create an official entry)

Seeding updates for both the Ultra Marathon and Half Marathon are free of charge. Please log into your TOM online profile and update your seeding with the name, date and distance of the race, plus the time you ran with a website address where we can verify your new time.

Downgrades cannot be facilitated.

No changes whatsoever will be permitted after the Profile Update Deadline. Thank you.