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Two days after runners completed the Edmonton Marathon, the race director is apologizing after he says event officials discovered an error in accounting for detours that led to race courses being too long.
The acknowledgment confirmed what many runners said they had suspected.
In a statement issued Tuesday afternoon, Edmonton Marathon race director Tom Keogh said the distance of the half-marathon and marathon courses measured 674.7 metres longer than previously thought.
“The Edmonton Marathon’s previous statement detailing confidence in the course certification process was issued with the best information it had at the time,” Keogh said, adding that event officials conducted a thorough review of the course.
“That review has identified an error in how this year’s detour-related course adjustments were calculated and for that we sincerely apologize.
“The additional distance added for the Wellington Bridge detour was partially offset with adjustments made to the course’s west end turnaround point. Upon review it was determined that the turnaround point did not fully offset the addition of the detour.”
Keogh said the Edmonton Marathon “owns this error.”
“We take full responsibility,” he wrote. “We appreciate the many participants who have emailed and the ones that we have followed up with to have additional conversations.”
Prior to the statement being issued, elite and amateur runners alike had raised concerns about the race distances. Four runners told CBC News on Monday they were convinced they ran too far.
Keogh told media outlets on Monday that the courses were measured correctly and confirmed on race day.
“While we pursued the highest level of professional course measurement and certification available, an error occurred,” Keogh said Tuesday.
Athletics Canada, the national governing body for the sport, told media on Monday that it too was confident with the course measurement and certification process. As of publication, Athletics Canada had yet to issue its own statement about the updated position being taken by the Edmonton Marathon regarding the issue.
“We are working directly with Athletics Canada and other relevant partners to determine how this year’s results can be recognized,” Keogh said in his statement Tuesday, acknowledging that the race was a qualifier for larger running events, including the Boston Marathon.
Calgary runner Mitch Walz spent a year training for the marathon in Edmonton, hoping a time of 2:59 would not only meet the 3:05 Boston Marathon qualifying standard for his 40-44 age group, but also give him enough of a buffer to be selected if too many runners achieved the standard.
Walz estimated he ran 42.2 kilometres — the official marathon distance in Edmonton — in 2:59, but his chip time when he crossed the finish line was 3:03 on Sunday morning.
On Tuesday, Walz told CBC News the past few days have been an emotional roller-coaster.
“Not only did I kind of achieve one of my goals and run as good of a race as I could have imagined or dreamed, it just feels as if it was all pulled out from underneath me,” he said.
Walz said he knew he had been hitting his paces during the first half of the race, but when he passed the course marker showing there were three kilometres left in the race, he felt deflated and couldn’t figure out what went wrong.
Knowing what he knows now, he said he is proud of his effort but wishes he could have pushed harder during the last few kilometres.
“We do not take this lightly,” Keogh wrote. “We understand that every participant arrives at the start line having invested months of dedicated training, hard work, courage and deeply held goals.
“We also understand we hosted the nation’s best athletes and their finishing times did not truly reflect their amazing performances.”
Walz said it would mean a lot for him to run in Boston and he hopes he could still earn a spot at that city’s race.
As to whether he would ever race the Edmonton Marathon again, he said the answer would have been no but he understands mistakes happen and would consider running at the event again.
“Moving ahead, we will review our certification processes with our partners and ensure this error does not happen again,” Keogh wrote.
