Mnweni Marathon

Its unfortunate the the spirit of the the race is ruined as a result of this new development. it was a true meeting point of the Hikers and Trail runners on this site.
KZNTR likes to brand itself about the Gees and Vibe, all the while laced with commercialization . The mnweni was every thing but that. You only knew about the race if you heard it by word of mouth (or blogs) and actively sought it out to find that it was already sold out and you would have to wait and train for another year. It has now been publicized to their vast data base, The secret is out.

KZNTR has a monopoly on trail running in the KZN area and this can not be helpful for the sport. I don't believe KZNTR will invest in the local community either but nmweni didn't do that too much either.

Time for a new trail run secret - I have a place in mind and can arrange - if there are any takers PM me and we can take it from there.

Hello @Martin

Thanks for your input to the discussion. 

I'm in two minds regarding your comments:

* I appreciate the work that KZN trail running does for the running community. I have run some of the races myself and can commend you on the organisation there-off. I also understand that a more formal race(marked course ect) will provide people, that are not able on their own account, to experience the spectacular Mnweni Cutback. This will surely bring people back to the area to attempt it on their own,thereby supporting the local community.

"In my opinion, the spirit behind changing the May event to form part of the Mountain Marathon Series is not to take away from the event but rather to add to it...."

* I do not however agree with the more formal event adding to the spirit. Will a marked course and exact GPS coordinates of all the books, add to the spirit of the Barkley Marathon ? The winter Mnweni had a cult like following, many of which are active on this forum. Therefore for many the spirit behind the original event is unfortunately lost. I also understand that like with all things in life, something must evolve, but I cannot help to agree that it should have been the September Mnweni that have become the organised event. The September Mnweni would have been much simpler logistically, good luck cutting the grass on the final km approach to the head of Mnweni Pass, no runner in a formal event will be happy slogging through head high grass. 

I do however appreciate that some effort was made to keep the original race alive and will therefore support you in September. 

Martin and I have corresponded a few times since his initial post. We have even met face to face.I pointed out to him that I really am not a fan of the mountain series website. Too much focus on the elite runners, and almost nothing to encourage Average Joe to enter. That said, the intentions of the series are fine, and it may even be a good thing for trail running in the country. I will not be entering the series.Let’s be honest, the Mnweni Marathon is a race, so there will be a winner. I would actually like to run Mnweni against some of the top athletes. So, the efforts to include Mnweni within the series are not going to be a bad thing in itself. There will be a few changes, but I believe Martin when he says he wants to keep Mnweni as it always was.Which then brings me to my final point. Bruce created the Mnweni Marathon. But, the runners themselves created the culture and vibe. The event is after all more about the 199 people that finish than the 1 person who wins. So, all we actually have to do is to ensure that enough of the “old” crowd enter this year and it will actually stay the same.

Hey guys, 

Just a quick heads up that entries for Mnweni Marathon 2020 (May event) will open tomorrow, Friday 31 January, at 10am. If you want, you can enter at:
kzntrailrunning.co.za/races/mnweni-marathon/ 

Apologies for my tardy responses. I hope to get to some of your comments over the course of the weekend. The start of the year has been hectic for us. 

Martin

Here is an update regarding Mnweni Marathon.
Firstly I know there will backlash regarding this and I am prepared for it as I don't have much of a reputation left to lose as one would see in this Facebook post- www.facebook.com/Dynamodave789/posts/4561461727229674 this is not a personal vendetta against the company as they would like others to believe. I am standing up for what I believe in and putting into the question of the ethics regarding the current host of Mnweni Marathon.

Before anyone asks I have brought up the issue of the collection of markers in the past with the company and nothing was done about it.

A friend and I went on a long weekend trip to Mnweni on the heritage long weekend.
A few points to make.

The manager of the cultural center was not happy with the organizer
All past photos regarding the history of the Mnweni marathon was binned.

Now to the tale, the weekend's plan was up Black and Tan Pass North, down Manxome Pass, up Mnweni Buttress Pass, down North Ntonjelana Pass, up Christmas Pass and down Twins Pass.
When walking into the Mnweni valley the first maker that we spotted was at the gate into the valley which was swiftly removed (as I have been doing after events from this company for the last 1,5 years), the next marker was up to the dassie, there were, fortunately, no markers from then to the top and bottom of Black and Tan Pass North and Manxome Pass.
Now to the reason of my outcry, due to the nature of the long weekend, there were a lot of Novice hikers in Mnweni this long weekend ad they do not have the skills to make it up Mnweni Buttress Pass let alone know what pass they were in if they needed to be rescued because of the gross negligence of the organizing company by not making sure that the mountains were clear of all dayglo pink markers with reflective tags we found a group wondering their way up the valley to Mnweni Buttress Pass when in fact they were planning on doing Mnweni pass (with the lack of water, strong winds, and heat they were at risk of dying in the mountains). When showing them back to the path and removing the offending markers that led them astray we headed up Mnweni pas to find that the nearest running water was 3km inland. while heading up the pass I spotted a hiker with at least 20 markers on his pack.
When heading along the dirt road we spotted Lenard who was on his way to rescue an injured hiker.

Now the reasons behind my public outcry.

Every single person that was following those markers lives were at risk due to the gross negligence of the company that did not make sure that they had cleaned up after their event.
The environmental consequences of leaving markers strewn across the mountains. THIS IS LITTER the markers are nylon strips that will get into the watercourses, kill wildlife both buck and the endangered birds that call the mountains home, there is also livestock that can be killed by digesting these markers.
Next, they said that they paid the community to clean up the markers and left without checking that this was done. Where they planning for these markers to be dumped in rubbish heaps to go back into the river courses when the rains came.

So I beg to ask the question should we allow the company in Question to treat our Mountains like their dumping ground and take advantage of the mountains however they please.
Should we support a company whose ethos is to protect the environment but in fact does not care to make sure that they leave no trace. This is not the first time this has happened and something needs to be done about it.
What happened to only leaving footprints.

Regards David

@Dynamodave...We also hiked that weekend of the Marathon and came back to the Centre on Tuesday. We were horrified with the trail of pink markers left on the marathon route and the wind was blowing those that were loose around the place. This is totally and environmentally unacceptable and a extremely bad reflection on the organizers. They cannot depend on the locals to take them down, even if they paid them. The taking down of the markers has to be supervised by them and not even one marker must be left in the mountains. This company must be approached and this mountain pollution dealt with immediately or they must not be permitted to organize another marathon there. I think everyone on VE will stand behind you Dynamodave. This case could be taken to the Dept of Environmental Affairs if they do not act quickly!!!!

From an email thread between myself and Martin a few months ago:

On the litter note, KZNTR are constantly looking into ways of eliminating litter at our events. We envision having zero waste events in the near future – where the only waste at the event is the waste brought in from race participants, e.g. wrappers, cans, bottles, etc. It’s harder than it seems because of course markings (candy/danger tape), vendors, etc.

I was annoyed to see so many markers when Dave started picking them up - but when I started seeing others photos of what they picked up before we passed through, I was truly horrified.

I agree with Richard, this needs to be elevated and action needs to be taken. We can't allow our mountains to be covered in markers like this - aside from the unpleasant visual aspect, the potential environmental impact is serious.

The one aspect that always makes me sad when I hike at Mnweni is how bad the erosion there is. Ntonjelana Pass is especially bad - I'm not sure what we can do about it, but some action is required if that pass is to remain usable in the future. I fear in our lifetimes we will see some of these routes degrade to the point of being unusable.

ghaznavid wrote:

We can't allow our mountains to be covered in markers like this - aside from the unpleasant visual aspect, the potential environmental impact is serious.

There is a number of different issues at hand. You might or might not agree with the current Mnweni Marathon format, approach or ownership. I am not getting into that, I have my own opinion on Mnweni Marathon in past and now, but it is mine. A critical question. How did it come about that the event move from Bruce to Martin/KZNTR? Personally I am not interested, but is an important aspect to keep in mind.

Two is the issue on how this was handled. Again, I have my opinion, read a bit of it on FB if you want. Personally I am not interested in personal axes between other people, nothing to do with me.

What concerns me is the issue of pollution and litter. I have spend the last three years actively cleaning up mountains, rivers and beaches, highlighting the problem and campaigning for societal changes. The trail running events I am involved in started going cupless three years ago and keep on striving to make progress on the waste aspect of events.

What is alarming is that the pink cotton markers is seemingly the biggest pollution concern on the mountain, Cotton will degrade and if it is eaten will most likely not clog up an animals stomach and intestines. The colour and chemicals has a negative impact. An unpleasant visual aspect it is indeed. Plastic on the other hand is a much larger problem from all perspectives. I would love to see the same energy, griping or moaning put into general plastic waste pollution on the mountain. This is the real problem.

I almost never head into the mountains and come back without someone else's crap. Plastic is rife, from the lower paths, past the contour paths all the way to the high mountain. Photos attached are from the Mont-Aux-Sources area earlier this year, the top of Tugela is a rubbish dump and Bannerman's hut is and have been since earlier this year, a disaster. So my only real plea is, if you want to put yourself out as an anti-pollution voice, do so holistically and help make the mountain cleaner. Again, the pink markers is a pain in the butt and shouldn't be there. That said, at the mountain the pink markers is the lesser of two very serious evils.