Huge stain on Mpumalanga Marathon

From the moment the race flyer for the Mpumalanga Marathon was released, eyebrows were raised, with organisers announcing a record prize purse.

- Wesley Botton

There wasn't much hype in the build-up to the event, which was held in September, and it ended up attracting a little over 400 runners, which is a tiny field for a 42km race offering R1 million to the men's and women's winners.

Aside from the uncertainty around the race (at first many thought the flyer was fake) and the lack of promotion which sponsors would usually expect, the prize money structure was also bizarre, with the winners getting R1 million and the rest of the top 10 finishers sharing a little more than R400 000 combined.

Nonetheless, the race went ahead, and with a massive carrot on the line, some elite athletes turned up hoping for a big payday.