The race director of the Toronto Marathon firmly believes Sunday’s event was the traditional 42.2 kilometres long.
Jay Glassman said the course was measured at 42.195 km by a certified measurer and authenticated by Athletics Canada on March 27. He added the course was remeasured at that length two months prior to Sunday’s race.
“As for the measurement of the course – marathon, half-marathon, five- and 10-kilometres – 100 per cent I believe they were all measured accurately and properly,” Glassman said in a telephone interview. “And we had the Athletics Canada certificate for it.”
After the race, some participants publicly stated they felt they’d run further than 42.2 km, saying their GPS watches recorded distances exceeding the traditional marathon. That was a concern for some who were trying to hit qualifying marks for other marathons.
“The distance is 100-per-cent correct, it’s not going to affect peoples’ times or qualification for Boston assuming they met the standard,” Glassman said. “We run into this all the time and it’s not just our event, I’ve seen it in New York, in Chicago, in other races in the U.S. where people say, ‘The distance for this race was inaccurate. It’s too short or it’s too long.’
“What often happens is people run with a Garmin or GPS. They’re great for point to point … but they don’t take into consideration the topography or elevation changes necessarily of an event.”
Cathy Vandergeest, a Toronto runner, said via Twitter after the race that it’s not uncommon for tall buildings to wreak havoc with GPS readings.
“I’m guessing the runners in the story aren’t used to running with the interference of the buildings on GPS satellite,” Vandergeest said. “Toronto runners are used to laughing at the random patterns on their route maps and crazy paces they could never achieve.”
Glassman said race officials go to great lengths to ensure their distances are accurate. Bikes fitted with a Jones Counter on the front tire are used. The counters were invented in 1971 to measure the lengths of road-running race courses.
“Our course is measured by a certified, approved, accredited course measurer,” Glassman said. “The distance is 100-per-cent correct.”
Glassman did admit there was some confusion for certain runners with the 10-km race course, but added organizers are still trying to determine the exact problem. Glassman said the Toronto Marathon plans to do right by those runners who were affected.
“Something did go wrong, there’s no question it did,” he said. “The course was marked proper, but we’re still trying to figure out what happened.
“We’re not sure if it was marshalling, if they were given the wrong instructions or it was a police officer who directed them the wrong way. We know we can’t fix it for this year, but we’re looking to offer something as consolation for next year and probably 2021 so that hopefully we can have them run again.”
This year’s event had different start and finish points than previous years. The race began north of Sheppard Avenue on Yonge Street (rather than further north at Mel Lastman Square) and finished at Exhibition Place (instead of Ontario Place). Glassman said event organizers sent participants repeated e-mails outlining the changes.
He said it’s ultimately up to runners to know the course, citing International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) rules.
“The IAAF rule in road races clearly states that it’s the responsibility of the athlete to know the course,” he said. “But we also hope our marshals, security and people out there also know the course and which lanes the runners are supposed to be in, where they’re supposed to turn and cross.”