Making amends: Wally Hayward organisers apologise for blunder

While they acknowledged they made a “huge mistake” at last week’s race, organisers of the Wally Hayward Marathon have apologised for their error and tried to make amends, releasing a detailed report of the event after thousands of runners were sent the wrong way.

Race director Francois Jordaan confirmed in a statement this week that the Metro Police officer on the lead motorbike did not turn at a certain point shortly before the 2km point of the 42.2km race and followed an incorrect route.

A total of 1,827 road runners (including the elite contenders in the marathon and half-marathon contests) had followed, eventually running three kilometres further, before the rest of the field were directed onto the correct course.

A popular annual event in Centurion, the Wally Hayward Marathon is billed as a final chance for runners to qualify for the Comrades Marathon, or to improve their seeding for the race.

This year’s event attracted a total of 10,223 finishers across the 42.2km, 21.1km and 10km distances.

‘Psychological impact’

The Wally Hayward Marathon organisers did admit they could do nothing to rectify the error which saw people running further than they had planned, which could be demoralising.

“We are aware that the method we used cannot account for the psychological impact of knowing you’re running an ultra, not a marathon anymore,” said Jordaan.

He did, however, apologise again for the blunder (as the organisers had already done last week) and said they would continue to work to ensure it did not happen again.

Comrades qualifier

Already they had tried to make amends by creating a formula to adjust finishing times of runners, which the Comrades Marathon Association had agreed to accept as qualifying times for the prestigious ultra-marathon in KwaZulu-Natal next month.

“We know it will take time and careful planning for us to restore the high expectations you (participants) rightfully have from us,” Jordaan said.

“I can assure you that we take this responsibility seriously and that we will do everything within our power to restore the faith in our event.”