The Munga Postponed – World’s toughest race faces a tough challenge

Sean Badenhorst is currently riding the Berg and Bush (great trek) I am sure he will tweet something about this soon enough.

That's a very valid excuse 

Alex responded to some bashing after it was posted on facebook with the following:

Guys. Understand something. A lot of people have dedicated more than a year of their lives to this idea. I have invested more than 20 years into my brand and it is based on growing honest and open relationships. This is what the Munga is about. I know we are letting some people down but we are making a decision from a place of integrity and respect. Especially to those who have been training their hearts out. We have made a commitment to every rider that they will be paid in full by the end of the week. This is a bump for us and thank you to all those riders who continue to show their faith in our idea.

That's a very valid excuse

Surely they would've had some or other legal agreement with the sponsor. . Shees shows you never ever do business with friends or family.

Silly idea from the start.  Doomed from day one.  I actually thought/think such a race entry idea is silly/unachievable/pipe-dream.

It depended who entered first as to who would enter the race last.  Now that the time is nigh, dummy's get spat.  Also, naturally,  too expensive to sponsor, Winner takes all and second is as good as last.  What an incentive for the sponsors!

There will be more fun sorting the mess out than the actual racing.

Guys. Understand something. A lot of people have dedicated more than a year of their lives to this idea. I have invested more than 20 years into my brand and it is based on growing honest and open relationships. This is what the Munga is about. I know we are letting some people down but we are making a decision from a place of integrity and respect. Especially to those who have been training their hearts out. We have made a commitment to every rider that they will be paid in full by the end of the week. This is a bump for us and thank you to all those riders who continue to show their faith in our idea.

So from this we know he is honest, open, believes in integrity, respect others but nothing on why the Munga was cancelled/postponed

Silly idea from the start.  Doomed from day one.  I actually thought/think such a race entry idea is silly/unachievable/pipe-dream.

It depended who entered first as to who would enter the race last.  Now that the time is nigh, dummy's get spat.  Also, naturally,  too expensive to sponsor, Winner takes all and second is as good as last.  What an incentive for the sponsors!

There will be more fun sorting the mess out than the actual racing.

Good on Alex to committing on refunds though...right thing to do

Cheque is in the post....

I thought all the money for this event was already secured when they started marketing the event, I don't understand the postponement?

Good on Alex to committing on refunds though...right thing to do

Refund with interest?

Refund with interest?

they should probably disable the ENTER functionality on the site.

Alex is going to have to do some serious damage control to his brand. Leaving out a new date for the race is a serious mistake, he may as well call it like it is, cancelled!

This has ruined my year - was really looking fwd to watching/following this thing...

He wanted to give those guys the recognition they deserve (FC, Great Divide etc), force the pro's into their domain, drag in the 24hr racers etc - the money was the bait, and if it worked, the winner would be the worthy, for the "Toughest Race on Earth"

Sure the money was the bait but us fun riders all needed to enter to make it viable. Probably only 10 teams with a realistic chance of winning so the prize money is not really a carrot for the rest of us.

Sure the money was the bait but us fun riders all needed to enter to make it viable. Probably only 10 teams with a realistic chance of winning so the prize money is not really a carrot for the rest of us.

Sure the money was the bait but us fun riders all needed to enter to make it viable. Probably only 10 teams with a realistic chance of winning so the prize money is not really a carrot for the rest of us.

Carrot for the big boys - $1 million

Carrot for average Joes - Bragging rights/kudo's etc

As I said in one of my earlier posts, price was too much for the average Joe's, make the entry R60/70k per team, cut the prize money in half - you still have a massive carrot for the big boys

Let's hope Munga mkII hits all the right notes 

who, is the "billionaire backer " ? 

would suck if you had been training for it and now this happens!

Ask Sean Badenhorst - he wrote about his motivation and training in the latest Tread Mag.

Whaaat! I demand payment for all the wasted minutes my eyes have been forced to spend, scanning adverts in every bike magazine. 

who, is the "billionaire backer " ?

And now some people gave up their Epic entries for The Munga, so now they wont be racing either.......

My 2c

When entering multistage races( everyone is different) my entry fee is normally the cheapest part

Again READ this is how I do it, logic says there are other who think/do it the same

Firstly I make a mini holiday out of it for the wife and kids, so accommodation at a comfortable B&B

FLIGHTS,

Example We have a standard way of doing sani 2 c B&B along the way for 3/4 couples, stay a few extra days at the coast, maybe fly back, car rental,

Massages, spares,supplements, and and and

Then you haven't even done the MATHS of training, I would imagine some SERIAAAS miles were clocked by people training for this event, for pros some possible income events may have been cancelled due to many reasons, costs ,conflicting of training ,

Then let's try do the MATHS of the international contestants,

Personally if my entry fee was paid back I can only imagine it wouldn't come close to the cash outlay it would have cost me if I thought of entering,

Taking the above into consideration I can't see part #2 taking off as repaying entry fee wouldn't come close to most peoples costs/expenses

I thought it was a joke when it first came out. But then Alex, who I hear has a good reputation, was interviewed on the Last Aid Station MTB radio podcast with Mark Stover. I don't remember all the details but he sure implied that the Munga was for real, that funding was secured, and that a pair of riders would most definitely be winning the big money. He also said they were having to limit entry to 450 to keep a good experience for everyone. He made it sound like they were overwhelmed with interest. Having had a chance (all be it very remote) of racing I have been consumed with the idea of it. I just can't imagine pretending this was a go when it wasn't. Though I also know how easy it is to get carried away with enthusiasm. 

I got suggestions to step back and prepare for it next year. But I gotta say, though I believed it was a go this year, I didn't really think it would be sponsor or entry sustainable and I imagined it'd be a one-off event. Right now it's looking more like a non-event.