Cadbury Marathon’s half-marathon course covers extra distance after communication error by officials
Runners were vindicated after feeling like a half-marathon course was ‘definitely longer’. A communication error by race organisers during the traditional race extended the course. How it happened.
Tasmania
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An extra kilometre was added to the Cadbury Marathon’s half-marathon course on Sunday, leaving runners confused when checking their smartwatch statistics.
Miscommunication between officials and marshals has been largely blamed for the bungle.
A traditional half-marathon is 21km long, but Cadbury Marathon competitors instead pounded the pavement for closer to 22km in the Sunday heat.
The course had been measured correctly but the was a communication error to marshals which led to the runners taking a longer route.
In a statement online, Cadbury acknowledged and apologised for the extra distance covered by the half marathon runners.
“Unfortunate circumstances saw front runners lead the same way as the full marathon runners, and were followed by the remainder of the group,” they said.
“The event will be implementing strategies to ensure this doesn’t happen again, and we would like to extend our huge thank you to all of our dedicated volunteers who help out along the course and at the event precinct.
“It has been confirmed that the ‘unofficial’ actual distance was 21.95km, 852m too long and our results system has updated this distance in results.
“We extend our sincere apologies to those who feel disheartened or disappointed and we share your disappointment.
“We hope to see you again at future events.
Several people who completed the run on Sunday commented they felt vindicated because the course “definitely felt longer”, but overwhelmingly positive reactions filled the comment section.
“Thank you for acknowledging,” one man said.
“Couple of simple signs should do the trick and a Marshall. Was a great event.”
“The marshals are volunteers and all volunteers did a great job giving up their Sunday morning so we can run,” another woman said.
More than 2100 runners participated in the event, and the half marathon event was entirely sold out.
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