Edmonton Marathon director apologizes after course measured incorrectly

The Edmonton Marathon is apologizing for incorrectly measuring its course, recanting on an earlier statement that was confident the race was the right length.

Tom Keogh, the marathon’s race director, says there was an extra 675 metres on the usual 42.2-kilometre trek.

In an emailed statement, Keogh says the course was reviewed and an offset made for a detour was incorrectly calculated.

More than 10,000 people registered for the race and, despite the miscalculation, both the men and women’s fastest-time records were broken in this year’s event.

Keogh apologized for the error and says the Edmonton Marathon is working with Athletics Canada to figure out how to gauge this year’s results.

That’s especially important as the marathon could be used to qualify for future races, such as the famous Boston Marathon.

“We understand that every participant arrives at the start line having invested months of dedicated training, hard work, courage and deeply held goals,” Keogh says in the statement.

“We hosted the nation’s best athletes and their finishing times did not truly reflect their amazing performances.”