Nick Bester blasts Cape Town Marathon organizers over race cancellation

The highly anticipated 42.2km marathon, set to draw 24,000 runners at Green Point Stadium, was called off early Sunday morning due to severe wind conditions.

But Bester says the organizers overreacted and failed to plan properly for the weather, which is typical in Cape Town.

“This is Cape Town, wind is normal here. They should have waited an hour or two instead of panicking. There was clearly no contingency plan,” Bester said.

Bester argued that millions of rands invested in the event were wasted and suggested that organizers could have improvised to ensure the race went ahead.

“If the medical tent blew away, they could have used the VIP tent instead,” he added. 

“We had athletes from all over the world — including Thabang Mosiako and top Ethiopians — ready to run. This decision shows poor judgment.”

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He also questioned the consistency of the decision, pointing out that other major races have been held in even harsher conditions.

“The South African Marathon Championships in February had stronger winds, yet the race went ahead,” Bester said.

“This was a panic move, plain and simple. Now runners are crying — they’ve lost money, time, and opportunity.”

Adding insult to injury, Bester slammed the organizers for not offering refunds to disappointed participants.

“The runners are the biggest losers here,” he said. 

“The wind has died down now, and the race could have started later. This has damaged the reputation of Cape Town and South Africa.”

The Cape Town Marathon organizers said the decision was made at 4:45 am, with notifications sent to participants via WhatsApp at 5 am, just over an hour before the 6:15 am start.

They cited safety concerns and severe overnight weather as the reasons for the last-minute cancellation.

Bester, however, remains unconvinced — insisting that the world-class event was undone not by the wind, but by poor planning and weak decision-making.

Bester said the cancellation has shattered the Cape Town Marathon’s credibility and cast serious doubt on its ambitions to become a World Marathon Major. 

“I don’t think it will ever happen now,” he said. 

“How can people trust organizers who have no contingency plan? This was a complete failure — they’ve damaged the race’s reputation with their arrogance and poor planning."