Building Africa's First Marathon Major

Welcome to “The Future of Running” podcast on Head Start presented by Brooksee and hosted by Phil Dumontet.

In this episode, Phil sits down with Clark Gardner, CEO of the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, for a conversation about leadership, resilience, and the ambition to bring the Abbott World Marathon Majors to Africa for the very first time. With Eliud Kipchoge preparing to race his first marathon on African soil and the eyes of the running world fixed on Cape Town, the stakes for this moment could not be higher.

What does it take to build a World Marathon Major from the ground up? How do you lead when 24,000 runners are ready to race and extreme weather forces a cancellation just 90 minutes before the gun? Clark shares the leadership principles and crisis frameworks that helped his team navigate one of the toughest moments in the race’s history, and why he believes leaders should stay in the background during success and step forward during failure.

We also explore the bigger picture: why Africa — home to the vast majority of the world’s elite marathon talent — has never had a Major until now, what Cape Town becoming the eighth major would mean for the sport globally, and how endurance events can drive tourism, economic impact, and national identity. A compelling conversation about ambition, pressure, and why the future of marathon running may run straight through Africa.

Send us Fan Mail