Great Eastern Run: Organisers apologise after half marathon course too short

Organisers of the Great Eastern Run, Good Running Events, has issued an apology after “human error” led to hundreds of participants of the half marathon running a course that was too short.

A number of runners voiced concerns after last month’s race that their recording devices such as Strava and Garmin, showed the distance they had completed as around 200m too short of a full half marathon.

Organisers have since investigated and believe they have identified a location between miles 11 and 12, close to central park, where the error occurred.

October’s race was the first time the half marathon was run as part of the prestigious event since 2018. It was not a smooth return though as the main race was delayed by around an hour after an ambulance drove onto the course and damaged the electronic timing pads.

A statement from Good Running Events read: “We were recently made aware of a discrepancy with the half marathon course at this year’s event.

"Following an internal investigation, we have since established that there was the ability to run a shorter than required distance, due to human error, in the Central Park area of the course, between miles 11 and 12.

"The shortfall is distance was experienced by some runners but not all and this was down to the ability to run a shorter than required turn in the clockwise direction at Park Crescent back towards the city centre.

“We are desperately disappointed that this happened at the return of the Great Eastern Run, on what was a triumphant return of the event back to the streets of Peterborough after fallow years and the pandemic in between.

“We would like to assure runners that thorough investigations have been carried out in the time since the event, as well as mitigating actions already agreed with key suppliers to ensure that this does not happen again.

“Work is already underway on an improved route for 2023 and we’ve listened to the feedback received from the runners post-event and heard it loud and clear.

"We’ve also agreed with our supplier that additional speakers will be installed within the runner pens- to ensure that any pre-race updates broadcast within the event village can be heard in full.

"We would like to offer our heartfelt and sincere apologies for the discrepancy that some of you experienced- and rest assured, work has already begun to improve for 2023.”

The event will return on October 15. Entry details can be found on the Great Eastern Run website.