A marshall who took a toilet break during the 10K Bournemouth Bay Run inadvertently caused 300 runners to run an extra 3K.
The marshall’s toilet trip happened fairly early on, meaning that quite a few of the front runners were affected.
It has been widely reported that many runners were left in ‘tears’ and to ‘walking over the finish line’ due to the incident.
The Bournemouth Council have since released this statement:
“This year saw new routes and overall the changes were well received. However, unfortunately there was some confusion with marshalling arrangements at one point which led to some of the fastest 10k runners going a longer distance. We apologise unreservedly to those front runners. In 33 years of running the Bournemouth Bay Run this is the first time this has happened, and as part of our debrief we will be analysing the arrangements carefully in this area to learn for 2016.’
The front runners who were affected are asked to contact Bournemouth Council: events@bournemouth.gov.uk or call them on 01202 451718.”
As you well know, running and training for a specific distance simply means you are designed physically and mentally for that distance. To run an extra 3K can have a devastating impact.
Here is some of the reaction from the race:
Really dissapointed in the #BournemouthBayRun 10k that ended up 13k very poor show bad marshalling #wontbeback
— Rob Kelly (@Koachkelly68) April 12, 2015
Perhaps this will inspire more people to volunteer. Extra hands always needed #bournemouthbayrun — Brixtonian (@Almo123) April 14, 2015
Have you ever had to run longer than necessary in a race before? Comment below and get in touch.
