The long serving executive office of the Comrades Marathon has resigned. Now it’s up to the old guard of administrators to ‘run’ the marathon into the future
ROAD RUNNING: Julian Drew
LINDA BARRON, executive officer of the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA), has been at the helm of the Natal classic for the past 12 years, and it has been largely due to her dynamic and creative leadership that the race has developed into what it is today. Last week it was announced that she had resigned.
Although she would not say so directly, it is believed that Barron’s decision was born out of frustration with conservative elements within the CMA and its failure to move with the times. Not just in terms of abandoning the amateur ethic, but also in reflecting the realities of the new South Africa. “I have no fights with them. At the end of the day I wanted to leave on a high note and I think this year’s race was just that,” said
While the CMA reluctantly awarded prize money for the first time this year, it still clings to the amateur ideals of its founding years and there is much resistance to going further down the road it must inevitably travel to ensure the continuing success of the race.
“They must take the vision and run with it but they have to realise that Comrades is there for the runners and not the other way round. My only hope for Comrades is that it doesn’t go back to what it was, that it doesn’t retreat into some kind of enclave in Pietermaritzburg full of old school blazer types.
“They must set their own egos aside and do what is best for Comrades and they must adapt to reflect the face of the new South Africa,” said Barron in clear reference to the almost exclusively white, male, Natal, colonial set which controls Comrades.
“Nelson Mandela came to Comrades this year but someday he might decide he doesn’t like it. Essentially Comrades is about the runners and they embody everything that is good about the new South Africa, but it also has to reflect the RDP within the sports arena in South Africa. It needs to look at development, at promoting the race locally and not just looking to the international market. We mustn’t forget that there is a very dynamic market here that needs to be developed,” said Barron.
The question of old fashioned conservatism within the ranks of the CMA has been raised frequently over the past few years, but the CMA is aware of the dilemmas it is facing. “I don’t think there’s a problem with our survival. We’re in our 70th year now and we’ve weathered many storms before,” said CMA chairman Barry Varty about Barron’s resignation. “We have looked at the question of commercialism but first and foremost we are race organisers whose function is to put on a race.
“We are not, I must emphasise, a profit making body. Any surplus money that is generated will go back into the race itself or be used for development. We are not a vast money making industry although a lot of people see us as such and we have the vehicle to do it. But we don’t want to do that and consequently the committee has been seen as a bit conservative. We introduced prize money and as could be expected we had people for and against that, but we will gradually continue to increase it.
“We said right from the beginning that we didn’t want this money to come from the runners or Comrades so obviously we must source it from sponsors. Fortunately, because of the standing of Comrades people like to be associated with it and consequently I don’t think we will have a problem there.
“However, we’ve got to be ever wary about the dominance of sponsors. We have our major sponsors but we don’t see a single sponsor taking over. We mustn’t forget the success of Comrades lies in the number of volunteers we get on the day and you don’t get that with a single sponsor. Our recipe has worked over the years and the only change is that the major sponsors keep getting a little bigger,” said Varty.
At present there are six major sponsors for Comrades, who contribute cash or in kind, plus many more smaller sponsors who man the 57 refreshment stations along the route. Total cash donations this year were around R1- million with the total value of sponsorships around R3- million.
However, the most important factor, according to Barron, is that the “sponsorship money ensures the runners still get value for their money and continue to feel it’s worth their paying the R60 entry fee.”
As far as making the CMA more representative of the new South Africa, Varty said he couldn’t agree more. At present the CMA consists of around 150 members with a seven-man executive, which replaces four members every two years, and a board of trustees made up largely from past chairmen.
The executive committee members are nominated by members and if there are too many nominations for the four positions there is a deciding vote by the 150 members. “The CMA has always had a small base but it has never been a closed shop. We are broadening our base at the moment and at registration this year we handed out membership application forms from which we have so far had about 200 returns which is very encouraging.
“We have an organising committee which reflects all race groups and anybody can get on the executive committee. The buzzword here is democracy so let the people do it the right way, the democratic way,” said Varty.
While cynics may say that this is only happening because, in the new political climate, there is no other way, what remains to be seen is whether the CMA, its executive committee and its board of trustees have what is required to take over the reins and keep up the momentum Barron has left them with.