The Newport Marathon’s organizers have issued an apology after realizing that the course was over 300 meters too long this year. Run 4 Wales announced that it was looking into “reports around the accuracy” of the marathon race, further stating it was disappointing to see and know that the 26.2 miles (42.2 km) course measurement was inaccurate.
The route was verified by the Association of UK Course Measurers (AUKCM) to be 0.171 miles (276 meters) longer than necessary.
The organizers announced that they had reached a consensus with London Marathon Events so that participants who wish to enter the race next year with a Good for Age entry will have their finish times adjusted. A three-hour finish time would be adjusted by about 70 seconds, a three-and-a-half-hour finish time by 82 seconds, and a four-hour finish time by 94 seconds.
Apology from Newport Marathon
A statement stated: “Run 4 Wales is disappointed that this has happened at one of its events and understands and apologises unreservedly to those impacted, particularly those aiming for Good for Age qualifying times.”
Runner Steve Burrows, 49, from Plymouth, Devon, found the situation disappointing and encouraged the organizers to modify all of the finish times.
He admitted: “My watch recorded quite a bit over when I finished, but I didn’t pay too much attention because that’s the last thing you’re looking at when you finish a marathon…It was only a day or two after when quite a lot of people commented that it tracked with so many people.”
“Yes they’ve apologised, but what most people want now is their times correcting to reflect what they should have… These races aren’t cheap. We pay a lot of money to do that. It’s all very well getting your medal and t-shirt but most people aren’t overly fussed with that, they want the official time,” Burrows added.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time that an inaccurate course record has occurred in Newport. It was eventually discovered that the Newport Half-Marathon in 2015 was 636 meters short.
Cover Photo: IG
Source: BBC
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