A Half Marathon Course Flooded With Waist-Deep Water—and Runners Kept Going. Should the Race Have Stopped?

At Sunday’s RaceFaster Half Marathon in Paramus, New Jersey, runners faced a challenging obstacle after roughly four to five inches of rain fell in the area. Parts of the 13.1-mile course were so deeply flooded that participants waded through dirty water up to their waists—and in some spots, even higher.Somehow, roughly 250 runners still finished, but the organization behind the race is now facing consequences. A few days after the race, a Bergen County spokesperson told Patch.com “the race organizer will be placed on probation with the Bergen County Parks Department’s permitting office” and it “will not be permitted to organize races within the Bergen County Parks System for a minimum of one year.”RaceFaster did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Runner’s World.The race had already been pushed from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. because of the weather, but the extra two hours didn’t exactly dry things out. Videos showed runners moving through rushing water, sometimes holding onto railings for balance. One runner told News 12 the water reached somewhere between her waist and chest, and that she and another woman grabbed onto each other to get through it.Among those who kept going was Zac Clark, founder of Release Recovery and former Bachelorette contestant, who documented the flooded conditions on Instagram.“Bro this is nuts,” Clark said in one video while wading through the course.He finished in 1:40:42 and placed third in his age group, later summing up the morning with “many rivers were crossed.” In another clip, he joked that his race prep could have used a little more specialization: “I thought I had a good training block, but I should have done more rapid work.”Not everyone decided the finish was worth it. Runner Megan Chesney also spoke with News 12 and said she dropped out once the flooding reached the path, worried about everything she couldn’t see under the water—from potholes and debris to other potential hazards.According to News 12, “County officials say they advised the organizer, Racefaster, to use an alternate route to avoid flooding” but “multiple race participants disregarded the new route.” Some participants, however, told News 12 they never knew another route existed. The county now investigating whether the race organizer followed the conditions of its permit, but there has been no final finding.No injuries were reported.Find Your Next Running PlaylistSean Abrams was the Senior Editor, Growth and Engagement at Men’s Health. He’s a former hip hop dancer who likes long walks on the beach and large glasses of tequila. You can find his previous work at Maxim, Elite Daily, and AskMen.