Kansas City Marathon Comes Up Short
Posted Thursday, 29 September, 2005
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Add Kansas City to the list of communities with marathon woes this year. Organizers of the Kansas City marathon said the race runners completed Saturday was about four-tenths of a mile short of the standard 26.2 miles because of a mix-up involving a loop in front of Liberty Memorial, the nation's largest World War I monument.
The mistake comes after Chicago's Lakeshore Marathon was inadvertently set a mile too long in June. And two freight trains disrupted the Quad Cities Marathon on Sunday, prompting a race organizer to drive a pace truck into the path of an approaching locomotive.
Kevin Wicker, director of special events and sales at the Sports Commission in Kansas City, said the problem started after the driver of the police vehicle leading the race decided not to turn into the Liberty Memorial, "thinking the gates were locked and we were not allowed in there."
But Kansas City police said Wednesday that the police vehicle was following the approved route, which didn't include the loop. Police also noted the police vehicle was followed by race staff.
"If the police vehicle was not following the course the race staff expected it to, it was the responsibility of the race staff to make the correction and bring it to the attention of the officers involved," police said in a news release.
Steve Berkheiser, Liberty Memorial executive director, said he was not notified that the memorial was on the route, although officials there were prepared to let the runners in.
Runners who thought the race qualified them for the Boston Marathon were left wondering.
"If this course is noncertified, that would be very disappointing," said Todd Hildreth, 42, of Lee's Summit, who said he was eager to enter the Boston race after finishing the Kansas City run in just under the time needed to qualify.
Some runners complained about organizational problems at the race, which has been canceled twice in the past five years after losing its primary sponsors. This year, the event was called the Waddell & Reed Kansas City Marathon, named for the sponsor that helped fund the $150,000-plus event.
Wicker vowed the memorial would be part of next year's marathon.
"We're working so that will never happen again," he said.
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Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com
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