The 2025 governance crisis around the Two Oceans Marathon can be understood less as a single incident and more as a systemic governance failure that eventually forced a structural reset.
The 2025 event itself was widely regarded as operationally flawed, including breaches of permit conditions and poor race management decisions, which damaged stakeholder trust (runners, sponsors, and the City).
Under Toni Cavanagh, tensions escalated between the board, stakeholders, and critics, including legal action against critics and reputational disputes, signalling a defensive rather than transparent posture.
A loss of confidence culminated in the threat of a no-confidence process, after which she stepped down as chairperson but remained on the board.
Multiple directors resigned, forcing founding members to reconstitute an interim board, effectively resetting governance while retaining some incumbents.