Runners who were accidentally directed to cover an extra kilometre during the Cadbury Marathon’s half-marathon course on Sunday have received an apology from the race organisers.
The bungle, blamed on miscommunication between marshals, resulted in runners covering a distance of 22.2 kilometres in the Sunday heat, instead of the traditional 21 kilometres.
In a statement online, Cadbury Marathon organisers apologised for the extra distance and acknowledged the mistake.
“Unfortunate circumstances saw front runners led 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.”
Organisers confirmed that the “unofficial” actual distance covered by many runners was 21.95 kilometres.
“We extend our sincere apologies to those who feel disheartened or disappointed and we share your disappointment.“
Some of the race participants have taken to social media to say they are ‘just proud they were able to do 21.1km, let alone 22km’ and thanked organisers for owning the mistake.
“No harm done. It was still a great day. Love this event. Thanks to all the volunteers and organisers,” one person wrote.
“This is poor,” another said. “To blame it on the front runners is not fair.”
Over 2,100 runners participated in the event and the half marathon was a sold-out race.
