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Great West Run investigating after athletes claim route was 300 metres short
Organisers of the Great West Run have said they are investigating after some competitors’ routes showed a distance up to 300 metres short of the standard 13.1 mile half marathon.
On Sunday, May 21, thousands of runners took to the streets of Exeter for the annual Great West Run. The route, a 13.1 mile half marathon, takes participants around the city, starting and ending at Exeter Arena.
However, there has been confusion among some competitors as their Strava data, upon completion, suggested they had only run between 12.9 and 12.95 miles, which is between 240 and 320 metres (or roughly 260 to 350 yards) short of the full 13.1 mile half marathon distance.
On the day the finish line was outside the Arena and some runners have said they believed that the course had been shortened due to a route map on the Great West Run website showing the last section of the race being run on the track inside Exeter Arena.
One person said: “The Strava data from the athletes are all indicating the route was 12.9 to 12.95 miles not the required 13.1. This makes it 200 to 300 metres short . The issue is with the turning point at Stoke Canon. They shortened this as they planned to run the last 350 metres on the track at Exeter arena. This is clearly indicated in their race map. However they finished in the car park like they did the year before thus making the course short.
However, organisers have explained that this was an old map and the one provided to participants in their event guide shows the same route as the one taken on the day. While many are thought to have recorded the full 13.1 miles, they say they are looking into “discrepancy in the GPS tracking” after some reported a shorter distance.
A spokesperson for the Great West Run said: “The route was not supposed to finish inside the arena (it hasn’t for the last 2 years). It appears that some old route maps were still on the website from the last time the arena was used (2019) and this may have led some runners to be expecting an Arena finish.
“The official finish line was just outside the Arena main entrance. The start and finish were the same this year.
“We are aware that some runners have reported a slightly short course, although others have recorded the correct distance so there appears to be some discrepancy in GPS tracking. This is something we are looking into as it is the same route as run in 2022 so we are looking into why there is a variation.”
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