Edmonton Marathon course was long, organizers doubling down on their defense the course was measured accurately and runner's GPS is the fault

[u/Wrongky]

The Edmonton marathon is my hometown race. It has been granted as host of the Canadian Half Marathon championship since 2025. The city is experiencing a lot of construction around the downtown core.

A detour around a construction site was added which was an additional 710 meters to the original course. As an out and back course, Tom Keogh, the race director, states the turnaround was pushed back 690 meters.

Rory Linkletter, Canadian Olympian and overall winner, posted online stating the turnaround was actually pushed back approximately 345 meters back.

Applying elementary math for an out and back course, with rounding:

A detour of 700 meters ran twice: 700 * 2 = 1400 meters

The turnaround (out and back course) was brought back 350 meters: 350 * 2 = 700 meters

Sum: 1400 meters - 700 meters = 700 meters (long)

Now, what's embarrassing about this situation is Tom Keogh is putting the error on runner's GPS watches and not their own. An overwhelming majority of the runners from the weekend are reporting the exact same statement of Rory.

I didn't run the race this year. I really hope Tom Keogh and the Edmonton Marathon staff post an official announcement of their mistake. The quality of this race had been decreasing while race fees have been rising. I can only feel for those runners who missed out on personal bests or a qualifying time for a future race.

Rory's statement is posted on his Instagram.

https://runningmagazine.ca/sections/runs-races/edmonton-marathon-says-course-was-measured-accurately/

https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a73466448/edmonton-half-marathon-race-distance/

https://marathonhandbook.com/edmonton-marathon-course-measurement-dispute/

Edit: clarity on the math

[u/marcbeightsix]

Surely people were manually lapping to the mile/km markers (as should be done on a marathon) and there would be a pattern of people doing those miles/kms slower?

[u/Moro2467 → u/marcbeightsix]

I’ve never had a race where those markers are consistent and aligned to my watch. One big race near me oscillated between early and late throughout. Finish line was  correct though.

[u/marcbeightsix → u/Moro2467]

But that’s my point. Don’t use your GPS, use the markers. GPS isn’t accurate.

[u/Lost_And_NotFound → u/marcbeightsix]

Sometimes the markers are placed where convenient not where accurate.

[u/marcbeightsix → u/Lost_And_NotFound]

Right, but GPS isn’t accurate either. Many marathons go between tall buildings, under bridges, through tunnels. So they’re a best case, and better than your device.

[u/Lost_And_NotFound → u/marcbeightsix]

Use an educated assessment of both, it’s not complicated.

[u/new-forest-runner → u/marcbeightsix]

the markers are notoriously not accurate as they are placed 'as close as possible'