A miscalculated race route for the Edmonton Marathon has resulted in 13 runners missing the opportunity to qualify for the esteemed Boston Marathon.
In a statement released on Thursday, the organizers of the Edmonton event confirmed that while the Boston Marathon will recognize the finishing times of 92 participants, the times for the 13 runners will not be accepted.
The race, held on August 16, was found to be about 674.7 meters longer than the standard distance.
Initially, the organizers defended their measurement of the course length. However, after conducting a review, they acknowledged a miscalculation due to an error involving a mapped detour.
The Boston Athletics Association, responsible for the Boston Marathon, had previously indicated that although the Edmonton participants ran a longer distance, they would still qualify if their finish times aligned with the Boston qualifying standards.
Nonetheless, the association clarified that they would not accept any adjusted race times from Edmonton that accounted for the extra distance, which ultimately led to the disqualification of the 13 runners.
The Edmonton organizers have stated they will reach out to the affected runners and collaborate with Athletics Canada to reassess the course certification procedure.
Tom Keogh, the race director for the Edmonton Marathon, expressed in a statement on Thursday, “It is clear that the community brought together by this event is resilient, passionate, kind, and deserves nothing short of our utmost efforts.” He further committed to ensuring that such a distance miscalculation does not occur in the future.
The Edmonton Marathon race director has apologized for an error in accounting for detours that added over 600 metres to both the marathon and half-marathon courses. One runner failed to qualify for the Boston Marathon because the added distance extended his finishing time.
Throughout the event, many participants indicated that their personal distance measuring devices recorded the marathon course as longer than the official 42.2 kilometers, while the half marathon was over the standard 21.1 kilometers.
In the days following the race, officials confirmed that the course was indeed 674.7 meters longer than required.
Despite the additional distance, the Edmonton Marathon reported that new course records were established for both the men’s and women’s categories.