‘Embarrassing Mistake’: Officials Admit Edmonton Marathon Course Was 674.7 Meters Too Long

After athletes began questioning the distance of the Edmonton Marathon and Half Marathon, race officials have finally acknowledged that both courses were 674.7 meters longer than they should’ve been.That came after race director Tom Keogh had initially defended the measurement process and said the routes had been correctly certified and set up on race day. But after reviewing the course again, officials found an error in how they accounted for a construction detour.“The Edmonton Marathon’s previous statement detailing confidence in the course certification process was issued with the best information it had at the time,” Keogh said in a statement. “That review has identified an error in how this year's detour-related course adjustments were calculated and for that we sincerely apologize.”Construction around the Wellington Bridge had added distance to the route, and organizers attempted to make up for it by adjusting the west-end turnaround. According to Keogh, that change only partially offset the detour.“Upon review it was determined that the turnaround point did not fully offset the addition of the detour,” he said.Keogh said the Edmonton Marathon “owns this error” and added, “We take full responsibility.”The admission lines up with what Canadian Half Marathon champion Rory Linkletter had been arguing on social media. In a thread on X, Linkletter said organizers appeared to have removed about 345 meters in each direction at the turnaround when roughly 690 meters needed to come off each way.“To be clear, this is an honest, embarrassing mistake, but the right thing to do is to let the athletes have the peace of mind of knowing what their TRUE efforts were worth on Sunday,” Linkletter wrote before the race acknowledged the error.The course error had much bigger implications for several athletes chasing qualifying marks. For runner Mitch Walz, in particular, he was hoping his months of training would help him put enough time between himself and the 3:05 Boston Marathon standard for his age group to improve his chances of getting in.After organizers confirmed the course was long, Walz told CBC News how deflating the news was.“Not only did I kind of achieve one of my goals and run as good of a race as I could have imagined or dreamed, it just feels as if it was all pulled out from underneath me,” Walz said.Keogh said organizers are now working with Athletics Canada and other partners to determine how this year’s results can be recognized.“While we pursued the highest level of professional course measurement and certification available, an error occurred,” he said.He also said the race will review its certification processes with its partners to make sure the same mistake doesn’t happen again.Sean 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.