27.2 marathon. Idiots measure course wrong

Check out the link below. This past Sunday they ran this race on the lakefront in Chicago and the course was a mile too long!

Critical Mistakes - Apologies to 2005 Participants

Mark Cihlar, Founder (6/2/05)

June 2, 2005

Dear Lakeshore Participants and Interested Parties,

Re: Critical Mistakes and Shortcomings - Apologies to 2005 Participants

The venue, scenery, and day were spectacular providing participants

with clear skies, a breathtaking course, and an exceptional staging

area for the Start, Finish and Athlete's Village. Operational shortcomings

however, impacted the experience for many. Over the last 3 days

I have been conducting debriefing interviews and reviewing photos

and video to collect data on the event. Here are initial findings of those

efforts. My sincere apologies to all participants who were impacted by

my mistakes and other shortcomings, as well as for any additional below

listed findings.

1. The marathon course was exact - exactly 27.2 miles: Last minute

adjustments from the move to the Great Lawn, inclusion of Navy Pier,

and park district construction caused us to miscalculate and we foolishly

added an extra mile - how terrible!

At least the guy had the balls to step up to the plate, apologize for the mistakes, and offer to get more experienced people involved next year. A lot of guys would have run and hidden after this type of debacle.

He's been screwing up one way or another 4 years now.

That was not his original response. In the original, he blames CARA for the state of his race. He said he can't get support because CARA doesn't want to be involved in this slop fest. What a crock!

He has not run this race correctly yet and then has the balls to blame everyone else. This race gets worse every year. Then he blames others, vows to improve and then f*cks it up again. No thank you.

No mos! No mos!

For those who don't know what CARA means, it is the Chicago Area Runners Association. They are the group that charges over $100 for marathon training and teach you the "don't run too fast or you'll get hurt" training program.

It reminds me of the first 5-borough NYC Marathon, in 1976. The course crossed into the Bronx, literally went around a pole about 30 yards in, and went back over the bridge, to Manhattan. (Hence Bill Rodgers got to wave to Frank Shorter at the 20-mile mark.) The Bronx-Borough President suggested just adding some distance in the Bronx. The NYRRC said, uh, no. After that, the course was adjusted elsewhere to allow for more time on the mainland.

After reading the race director's statement, I feel somewhat sorry for the guy and having to try and "do it all" himself. HOWEVER - it's inexcusable to overlook one of the biggest "details" - the accuracy of the course! It's like my mother's first half marathon when she forgot all her racing clothes. There are just certain things you have to put first and foremost and it appears he failed to do this.

wstuart wrote:

HOWEVER - it's inexcusable to overlook one of the biggest "details" - the accuracy of the course!

Mind if I quote you on this one? I've been fighting a war for the past year down here on that issue. No one seems to give a damn.

Send me in coach, I'm just their man to get 'er done right!

Scott's your guy. He'd get it right.

Of course your chances of being paid for your work by Mark Cihlar are slim to none.

Hey they were close - only a mile off.

How do you get "off" by "exactly a mile" ???

Don't mind at all.

i think they added a mile portion (around navy pier) and intended to drop a mile somewhere else in the course. but sorta forgot to do the second part. whoops.

This is amazing,

The Lakeshore Marathon is one of the very few IAAF approved courses for qualifying for the World Championships. A large portion of national Athletics Federations follow this list of IAAF-eligible courses as a reference in their selection criteria. Although this is just a simple error and one that should be forgiven, I also think it should cause officials to open up their eyes. The measurement of marathon courses by IAAF / AIMS is a business. When a race chooses not to have IAAF certification, it may be an economic one! There is a conflict of interests here. I do not what the additional requirements are to be IAAF certified versus USATF certified, but certainly the accuracy of any course (whatever certification) should be scrutinized.

All too often we run over 26.2 miles for various reasons, I have been blaming the fact we can't often run the tangents, but there are obviously other reasons!

... but now all of the runners get to call themselves "Ultra Runners" ;-)

i don't think the course was iaaf certified. anyway, the guy who won ran like 2:50 or something (sure, he ran an extra mile but that's still not quick) so i'm pretty sure no one was really planning on running in helsinki after this one.

I heard he came through 26.2 in 2:11, but was totally spent.

jpgarland wrote:

It reminds me of the first 5-borough NYC Marathon, in 1976. The course crossed into the Bronx, literally went around a pole about 30 yards in, and went back over the bridge, to Manhattan. (Hence Bill Rodgers got to wave to Frank Shorter at the 20-mile mark.) The Bronx-Borough President suggested just adding some distance in the Bronx. The NYRRC said, uh, no. After that, the course was adjusted elsewhere to allow for more time on the mainland.

The choice of stairs or ramp at 77 street and the plywood over the curb cut at Cherokee Place. The guy that writes as Gridlock Sam(Schwartz) for the Daily News was the go to guy in city government on the traffic flow issues that got solved in 77.NYRRC got great support from the City on all parts of the race.Now First Ave is a high point of the race for so many runners we forget what an undertaking that change was.

1. The penguins don't care what the measurement is and almost all races are geared to them only. Racers be damned!

2. I don't hear a lot of racers complaining when they know the course is short. In fact, many justify why it was tough and a PR anyway. Yes, I know many of us are exceptions, but we all know these people I speak of.