Organizers of the Servus Edmonton Marathon have admitted that Sunday’s marathon and half-marathon courses were longer than their certified distances, reversing the position they took the day after the race.
In an updated statement released Tuesday, race director Tom Keogh says that a review found that a construction detour near the Wellington Bridge had not been fully offset elsewhere on the course. The result was an additional 674.7 metres on both the marathon and half-marathon routes. “The event owns this error, and we take full responsibility,” Keogh said.
On Monday, organizers stated that the courses had been set to their certified distances despite both elite and amateur runners expressing concerns; runners reported GPS readings of roughly 700 to 900 metres beyond the expected distance. The half-marathon doubled as the Canadian Half Marathon Championships, won by Rory Linkletter and Jadyn Keeler. Linkletter was among the athletes publicly raising concerns about the distance; he said the issue mattered most for runners pursuing qualifying times and personal bests.
A reversal after Monday’s defence
In the original statement, organizers said the route had been measured by a World Athletics/Athletics Canada Grade A course measurer, and added that the measurer was on site Sunday “to confirm that all courses were correctly set up to their certified distances.” Athletics Canada also said they backed the certification process at the time.
Keogh said the event is now “working directly with Athletics Canada and other relevant partners” on how the results will be recognized. “Moving ahead, we will review our certification processes with our partners and ensure this error does not happen again,” he said.
Calgary elite runner Polly Cunes was one of the first to post on social media about the distance discrepancy, and both she and Linkletter pointed out that a 700-metre difference can be significant for runners chasing specific goals, including qualifying times for the Boston Marathon. Linkletter also said the runners he coaches were close enough to their goals that they would have achieved them if the course distance had been accurate.