Marathon runner and blogger defends his criticism of Two Oceans organisers

Marathon runner and blogger Stuart Mann says if it was not for him, issues of “maladministration” in the running of the Two Oceans Marathon would have been “swept under the carpet”.

Mann has been taken to court by the Two Oceans Marathon board and its chairperson Antoinette (Toni) Cavanagh in urgent proceedings that are aimed at gagging him.

While the board and Cavanagh say they are not trying to completely silence him — and have taken note of some of his criticisms and acted on them — they say he has crossed the line and has now embarked on a defamatory smear campaign in a series of articles on his blog “The Running Mann”.

They seek orders compelling him to take down the posts and apologise for them, claiming he has defamed them. Mann has accused Cavanagh of embellishing her CV, lying about her running credentials, being a “Karen”, and being responsible for “the worst organised marathon” in the event’s 54-year history.

He called out safety problems with the trial marathon, citing a lack of markings and the emergency number not working. He pointed out that at this year’s event, runners were given shirts that didn’t fit, goodie bags had run out, that there were not enough water tables, that the organisers had run out of medals and that the organisers had breached the City of Cape Town permit rules by accepting 21,000 entries for the half marathon when the permit only allowed for 17,000 runners.

This has led to the City of Cape Town threatening to pull its support for the event, which could lead to its demise. Cavanagh, in her affidavit, accuses Mann of threatening the future of the marathon because of the impact of his critical posts on sponsorships, funders and partnerships.

But Mann, in his opposing affidavit filed this week in the Johannesburg High Court, said his only interest was that the marathon was run by “competent people who take accountability and take their responsibilities to the runners seriously, to ensure the marathon restores its former status as a well organised, prestigious event”.

“I firmly believe that all articles are factually correct and in the public interest. Where I have made comments I have done so fairly and based on evidence and related facts. This litigation is certainly meant to silence me,” he said.

“I am an avid long distance runner. I have run 281 marathons and ultra marathons. The Two Oceans is my favourite ultra marathon and I have run it more often than any other race. I have run it 20 times and volunteered at the event five years in a row while I was a student.”

He said he started the blog in 2017 and has published 332 articles to date. It was widely credited as giving a voice to runners and over the past few years and he has become an “accidental activist” within the running community.

He has broken stories about scandals involving racism and widespread corruption, incompetence and maladministration in the Comrades Marathon, which ultimately resulted in progressive changes.

He has exposed the fact that the former president of Athletics Free State was a convicted rapist and he has exposed runners who cheated.

He has also exposed that in the 2024 Two Oceans marathon there were three different cut-off times, which resulted in almost 100 runners not earning medals.

“My investigation resulted in direct intervention from Celtic Harriers Running Club, which owns the Two Oceans brand rights, and an apology and restitution to the runners from the board.”

He said it was never his intention to defame anyone. He believed the statements to be true and in the public interest. “I afforded them a right of reply to which I received no response.”

He said in April 2023 (ahead of Cavanagh’s election to the board in September that year), she had made critical comments about the marathon on her Facebook page and had called for a vote of no confidence.

In the first article Cavanagh complained about -in December 2024 — Mann had questioned her running CV.

The press release, announcing her chairmanship, had stated she had run nine marathons and more than 50 half marathons, and numerous long distance and ultra long distance trail events.

He said his investigations, which included data analysis, found that she had only completed three marathons and less than 20 half marathons and no ultra trial events. “I presented her with questions regarding this, but she did not respond.”

In a second article, he highlighted the “well publicised” debacle of the shortage of medals. He had received a tip-off, which was later confirmed, that this was because the board unlawfully accepted more race entries than was permitted by the City of Cape Town.

He said he had sent a list of questions in two emails to the board but received no reply.

“These were questions raised not only by me, but the running community who were also extremely concerned that that permit issue would threaten the existence of the event.”

Regarding Cavanagh’s complaint that he had called her a “Karen”, he said his understanding of the term was that it referred to a person, a man or a woman, who was perceived as being entitled or excessively demanding. 

Elon Musk, for example, was referred to as a “space Karen” and Donald Trump as the “Karen in chief”.

He said he did not use the term because Cavanagh was a woman.

“It must be understood that if the City of Cape Town severs ties, it would be devastating to the marathon. It cannot be argued that the current board is not at fault for breaching the permit bylaws of the city.

“It goes without saying that maladministration is in the public interest, not only to runners but also to the people of Cape Town. It is my suspicion that she [Cavanagh] is engaging in legal threats to silence legitimate scrutiny, and she cannot withstand public accountability.”

The board and Cavanagh set tight deadlines for the filing of papers, which Mann failed to meet. Mann said this was because he was effectively given only one day (excluding weekends and public holidays) to answer a 170-page application which, he says, is not urgent anyway.

However, the board and Cavanagh have now filed papers saying the matter should be treated as being unopposed. It has been set down for hearing on May 13.