The Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon is one of the biggest events on the SA running calendar. If you’re one of the thousands running the half or the ultra marathon, here are some interesting facts you should know about the race, according to last year’s stats:
Money, money, money! The total amount of prize money – excluding bonuses for records broken – stood at a whopping R923 000. Each first place male and female runner in the ultra marathon won R150 000. The first place male and female in the half marathon won R20 000.
Liquid lunch: During the 2009 race 750 000 water sachets were used, 180 000 Powerade sachets and 39 690litres of Coca Cola were consumed from the 41 refreshment stations around the venue. And all this was kept cool with the 30 tonnes of ice on the day. Fortunately there were also 151 portable toilets available.
With this came 300kg of bananas, 112 000 coke cups were used, 137 150 plastic bottles and 500 cardboard waste bins were provided.
Support: Apart from the 3 000 volunteers, there were 15 medical aid stations.
The Bling: There were a total of 21 000 finisher medals and a whopping 305 000 readers of the race results in the Weeekend Argus.
(Health24, March 2010)