Frustration Over Wrexham Half Marathon ‘Farce’

Many runners were left frustrated yesterday after there was confusion with the route during the Wrexham Half Marathon. 

The Village Bakery Wrexham Half Marathon is an annual event which sees around 500 participants take part each year.

The half marathon, which kicked off at 11am on Sunday morning, takes runners from the Club House on the Industrial Estate on a route 13.1 mile route, before finishing at the Club House.

Many participants of the half marathon however were left frustrated after a race Marshal sent runners in the wrong direction during the early stages of the race.

This resulted in a number of participants running 13.8 miles rather than the set 13.1 miles.

Since the race, many have taken to social media to express their frustration and confusion at today’s events. Chris Ingham described the event on Twitter as a ‘farce’ while Simon Gwyn Roberts tweeted to say it was a ‘monumental cock up’.

Writing on his blog, Daniel Weston said that the race had to be diverted due to flooding, however “one Marshal got confused and sent most people the wrong way.” Adding that all this took place before the first mile was complete.

He wrote that while he eventually started on the correct route, many runners continued on in the diverted direction, meaning they ran a total of around 13.8 miles.

A statement released by the Wrexham Athletic Club says: “Please let me apologies on behalf of the club for the marshaling error which affected so many of you. The confusion due in part to the last minute course changes we were forced to put in place in order not to disappoint you all as parts of the original course were flooded.

“As ex runners ourselves we share your frustration, I know it is no consolation but as a club, having put in so much preparation for the event, all by volunteers who receive no reward for their time and efforts apart from the satisfaction of a job well done, believe me we really feel it when things don’t go as planned.”

You can read the full statement on the Wrexham Athletic Club’s Facebook page here.

Two years ago we reported on the ‘sabotage’ that occurred during the Wrexham Half Marathon, when route signs were disrupted twice throughout the race.

This meant that around 40 participants ran only 11.3 miles as opposed to the 13.1 mile official route