News

The Two Oceans Marathon NPC acknowledges the concerns raised by the Christian community regarding the impact on access to churches and places of worship caused by the Ultra Marathon to be held on Sunday, 17 April 2022.

The decision to split the annual event over two days over the Easter Weekend has had unintended consequences on an important day for the Christian community, for which we sincerely apologise.

This was done to ensure the safety of all runners, suppliers and staff involved in the event, to meet the necessary compliance mandates required by the Covid-19 Risk Management Strategy; and to allow both races to start early so that roads that had been closed could be reopened as early as possible.

To mitigate the impact of the race in the areas along the route the organisers, along with the traffic management consultants, have developed a detailed Traffic Management Plan which prioritises minimising road closures and allowing access to places of worship over Easter Weekend, specifically on Easter Sunday. This Traffic Management Plan has been distributed to all churches in the route precinct and has been published on our website, www.twooceansmarathon.org.za, under both the NEWS and EVENTS sections.

In addition, these travel advisories have been emailed to all race participants, and widely shared on our official social media platforms.

Anyone wishing to attend a church or place of worship on Easter Sunday will not be prevented from doing so.

All road closures related to the Ultra Marathon on 17 April can be found at https://www.twooceansmarathon.org.za/event_race_day/road-closures/ while all road closures related to the Half Marathon can be found at https://www.twooceansmarathon.org.za/event_race_day/road-closures-2/.

As our event continues to grow and with it, the impact on local residents, access to places of worship and businesses operations; the Two Oceans Marathon NPC will be considering various alternative approaches for the event going forward, including possibly, but not limited to, moving the event to a different weekend.

After extensive consultations with various church groups, leaders and Christian individuals, our position remains that hosting the Ultra Marathon on Easter Sunday was an unfortunate, one-off anomaly given the constraints inherent in our planning, which necessarily included meeting the mandates contained in the Covid-19 Risk Management Strategy.

After extensive consultations with various church groups the need to host the event has been recognised and the approach to enable churchgoers to get to services explained.

We really appreciate the support and input that came from these discussions and, especially, the instances where services have been shifted to allow easy access for worshippers. We do request that all who are travelling make allowance for some delays, depart for their destinations early, and be patient.

The TOM NPC remains committed to hosting an event that has a positive impact on all who love and live in this City, and expresses its appreciation to all communities for their continued support

The TOM NPC wishes all a safe and pleasant weekend and, those celebrating, a blessed Easter.

[ENDS]

Issued by: The TOM Communications and Media Office