Edmonton Marathon admits it botched racecourse as runners wonder how it happened

EDMONTON – Top runners in the Edmonton Marathon say they knew even while they were still pounding the pavement that something was amiss in the Sunday event.

Their comments come a day after race organizers admitted Tuesday night they botched the racecourse by making it about two-thirds of a kilometre longer than it was supposed to be.

Kristen Spady of Red Deer, Alta., said Wednesday she was battling a recent hip injury to try to stay below the two-hour and 50-minute mark in the full marathon.

When her GPS-attuned watch told her she was nearing the finish line but it was still out of sight, it made those remaining strides more difficult, she said, and made her feel somewhat defeated.

“Just that last kilometre: I had already gassed myself and I just had nothing left,” she said in an interview.

Event organizers are now working with the governing body Athletics Canada as the event times can affect runners’ qualifying times for future races, including the Boston Marathon. 

Athletics Canada, in a statement, said Wednesday talks are “with relevant partners to determine how this year’s results can be recognized.”

Spady said Sunday’s event was a personal race for her rather than a ticket to a qualifier.

“It was frustrating for me knowing that my time didn’t reflect the efforts I was trying to put out there, but it’s not as big of a deal for me as I know it is for other people,” she said.

Tom Keogh, the marathon’s race director, said there was an extra 674.7 metres for the race beyond the usual length (42.2 kilometres for marathon runners and 21.1 kilometres for those in the half marathon). 

“We hosted the nation’s best athletes and their finishing times did not truly reflect their amazing performances,” Keogh said in a statement, which was also sent to racers.

The issue was a detour to accommodate local construction that wasn’t properly offset in the rest of the race.

“Moving ahead, we will review our certification processes with our partners and ensure this error does not happen again,” Keogh said.

The course was reviewed Monday and Tuesday after the organizers were asked to take a second look by elite athletes and other runners on the course who had talked among themselves about the incorrect distance. 

Organizers initially dismissed the complaints before remeasuring and concluding there was an error.

Lauren Barr, the second-place finisher in the women’s marathon, said when she passed the 42.2-kilometre mark, she started wondering where the finish line was.

“There’s a lot of times people have speculated on race distances maybe not being accurate, but it’s never been this obvious that I’ve seen,” said Barr. 

Spady and Barr said they’re not sure how the organizers will fix things.

Barr said she’ll likely talk with the other Canadian races and let them know the course was long, hoping they’ll take that into account to maintain her elite status with their races. With that status comes perks for the racers, she said, such as complimentary race registration or specific water bottles on the course.

But some races have a cutoff at two hours and 55-minutes for elite status, she said, just 32 seconds below Barr’s Edmonton time.

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

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 19, 2026.