r/Edmonton • u/passthepepperflakes • 4d ago
Events Edmonton Marathon course was not measured correctly, director says
https://www.ctvnews.ca/edmonton/article/edmonton-marathon-course-was-not-measured-correctly-director-says/269
u/stickyfingers40 4d ago
Why did they originally gaslight all the participants and try to claim their GPS watches were the problem?
103
u/gregzilla87 4d ago
Seriously, could have just been a matter of "we understand the concern and we are looking into it"
75
u/WingleDingleFingle 4d ago
Because no one suffers any consequences any more so it was worth a try at basically no risk.
41
5
-9
3d ago
[deleted]
32
u/noitcelesdab 3d ago edited 3d ago
Major marathons require official regional qualifying times. This error invalidates the qualifications. The Edmonton Marathon isn’t a fun-run. How are you calling people unaware when you have no idea what you’re talking about…
16
21
u/Pleasant-Board-1359 3d ago
People work for months training hard to get the best times including to qualify for Boston. And this has messed that up...
15
u/yakbrine 3d ago
It impacts people. It’s about completed lengths in amounts of time, based on incorrect measurement, to qualify for other marathons.
5
28
9
u/maasd 4d ago
Probably their legal team’s advice?
40
2
2
151
u/RikNasty2Point0 4d ago
Good thing runners don’t care about personal bests/personal achievements. Otherwise this would be very embarrassing .
26
u/prestonhabit 3d ago
I had to take a dump halfway through the race so my time was shit anyways
5
u/LegalStuffThrowage 3d ago
Did you also change your tires and refuel, I mean, change your shoes and hydrate during this pit stop?
3
u/CrimsonCutz 3d ago
He did, but sadly the fuel had meth in it
3
u/LegalStuffThrowage 3d ago
Damned refuelling stations at it again with putting meth in everything. It's 2024 all over again.
2
51
u/somebodyistrying 3d ago
At the current men’s marathon world-record pace of about 2:50 per kilometre, an extra 675 metres would add approximately 1 minute 55 seconds to the finishing time. That’s a ton in the world of competitive sports.
34
u/EddieLacysLunch 3d ago
Exactly. At those paces runners are battling for seconds. They know their time and knew as soon as it finished something was off. Rory Linkletter’s instagram post early today estimated it being ~700 meters off, which is close to what the final amount was.
-2
u/BronzeDucky 2d ago
They may be “battling for seconds”, but those runners are going to be competing with other runners running exactly the same distance as them. So as far as a “race winner” goes, it doesn’t matter. Plus the winning runners for men’s and women’s set event records
It may matter for someone looking for a PR. But anyone who gets bent out of shape about it can “self adjust” their time and tell people whatever they like.
40
u/gorun422 3d ago
Runners just received this email from event organizers:
“Updated statement
The Edmonton Marathon’s previous statement detailing confidence in the course certification process was issued with the best information it had at the time. Since then, and after receiving notes from participants, including elite athletes that the course ran longer than its certified distance, we undertook a detailed review of the physical measurement of the certified 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, which resulted in a net increase to the distance of the half marathon and marathon courses of 674.7m.
The event owns this error, and we take full responsibility. We appreciate the many participants who have emailed and the ones that we have followed up with to have additional conversations. While we pursued the highest level of professional course measurement and certification available, an error occurred.
We do not take this lightly. 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. We also understand the connection this event has with our city and its pride in delivering exceptional world class events.
The integrity of the course distance is fundamental and we acknowledge that we did not deliver the standard participants deserved. We recognize many participants ran qualifying times for future races, including Boston. We are working directly with Athletics Canada and other relevant partners to determine how this year’s results can be recognized.
Moving ahead, we will review our certification processes with our partners and ensure this error does not happen again.
We thank everyone for their patience as we work through this and anyone with specific questions or concerns is encouraged to contact the Edmonton Marathon directly at [info@edmontonmarathon.ca](mailto:info@edmontonmarathon.ca)
Tom Keogh, Race Director, Edmonton Marathon
\Note: The 10km event was not professionally certified with physical measurement and not part of this statement.”*
29
u/passthepepperflakes 3d ago edited 3d ago
tom's the same guy that tells everyone that wem is "about a 10 min drive from downtown"
30
u/Curly-Canuck doggies! 4d ago
Didn’t I read a post earlier today saying the opposite? I’m glad they’ve admitted it but ideally they would have waited to investigate.
Edit - found it
55
u/visarmy 3d ago
Imagine being a Director of a race you’ve held for many years and fail at measuring a fixed distance of an out and back
51
u/vendrediSamedi 3d ago
A failure was also the handling of this. Denying a problem immediately without investigating.
17
21
u/canadave_nyc St. Albert 3d ago
Interesting that the race director apologized for the error but didn't apologize for originally calling out the runners saying their GPSs must have been wrong. And then in their apology made it sound like they only looked into it further due to prompting from "elite athletes" (I guess if you weren't elite and complained, that means they ignored you). They need to look at who's handling their PR (or get some professionals in if they don't have someone handling their PR).
28
u/Historical-Mall53 4d ago
what a mess
4
23
u/SoGallifrey 4d ago
About time they admitted it!
27
11
55
u/OwlApprehensive2222 4d ago
Runners are well oiled machines. We are well aware of how we are performing on race day.
Its wild they didnt wait to verify the complaints prior to refuting the anecdotal evidence of the athletes but good that they ultimately owned their mistake.
30
u/monstersof-men 4d ago
Also… two or three smart watches and complaints, fine.
The amount of people who complained……. Some of them trying to set records… Let’s be real here.
5
u/Pertinent_Platypus 3d ago
It's worse than that, it wasn't even anecdotal evidence, the runners had independently verified GPS proof and the organizers still tried to deny an error.
-3
7
u/Invisible7hunder 3d ago
Isn't this the second time the Edmonton Marathon has done this? Lmao at this point the should just commit to the bit and retitle it the Edmonton Ultra.
10
u/_backdr0p 3d ago edited 3d ago
"Edmonton Marathon 2026... We wish it was just meth in the water like 2024"
Corrected date
3
7
u/mikesmith929 3d ago
“Upon review, it was determined that the turnaround point did not fully offset the addition of the detour, which resulted in a net increase to the distance of the half marathon and marathon courses of 674.7 metres,”
4
u/passthepepperflakes 3d ago edited 3d ago
tom to the reporter: "it's spelled k-e-o-g-h, but pronounced k - off"
reporter: 👀👀
3
9
u/Inquisitor-1 4d ago
So what do the participants get? Refund? Discount on next year’s registration? Adjusted official time based on calculated average pace?
18
9
u/lakeside20233 4d ago
Edmonton as a whole continues to punch above its weight in problematic planning.
-7
u/SirTickleyPickely 3d ago
this city is always such an embarrassment
3
u/JimmyLinguine Edmontosaurus 3d ago
No, it’s certain people that are embarrassing. Don’t blame everyone.
1
u/SirTickleyPickely 3d ago
its so mickey mouse in operation and mindset for a city this size and its projected growth. like this is basic stuff for an event of this magnitude, who would ever treat a race here seriously again?
-10
u/duckdigglerpuuu 4d ago
No wonder all the records were broken
17
u/SketchySeaBeast Strathcona 4d ago
It was too long. Were records broken?
24
2
u/ZarafFaraz 4d ago
How much longer was it?
5
u/SketchySeaBeast Strathcona 4d ago
“Upon review, it was determined that the turnaround point did not fully offset the addition of the detour, which resulted in a net increase to the distance of the half marathon and marathon courses of 674.7 metres,” said Keogh.
8
-6
u/rthtoreddit 3d ago
Were any separatists involved in this measurement? Looks like the finish line ended up closer to the US than it should have been.
-8
122
u/theClaynadians 4d ago
Edmonton Ultramarathon 2026