Caught short? Probe into Shrewsbury Half Marathon's 'missing' half mile

Several participants clocking the 13.1 mile event on GPS devices found their final mileage had come up short once they crossed the finish line.

Alarm bells started ringing when many of the runners revealed they had dramatically reduced their personal best times.

Organiser Dave Jones said the event, won by Tipton Harrier Dean Bate, had received a certificate stating the course was the proper length prior to the race but added he would ensure a full investigation was carried out.

Runners tweeted their disappointment at the alleged shorter distance of the half marathon. Matt Tudor said:

Grace Hough added:

Around 1,500 runners took part in the Shrewsbury Half Marathon, with novices lining up alongside experienced club runners.

Winner Dean Bate completed the course in one hour and 15 minutes. But several runners celebrating personal best times were left scratching their heads after their GPS devices suggested the the race was 12.6 miles, half a mile less than the official race distance.

Organiser Dave Jones said he would be carrying out an investigation into the matter. But he said the day itself had gone very well and thanked volunteers, including local scouts, for their help in ensuring the day ran well.

"The morning went very smoothly because when you close parts of Shrewsbury off it's a big job," he said.

"We had no reports of any of any congestion and it seems everybody arrived on time.

"Last year we suffered a bit with the amount of people trying to get on the showground at the same time.

"There are lots of events held here so it can cope well with a large volume of traffic.

"We decided to bring the road closures forward and everybody seemed to be in place by 8.45am. We believe there were 1,500 people taking part, which was similar to last year's event."

Mr Jones, of company In The Running, said more than 200 staff and volunteers were dotted around the course to make sure it went smoothly.

"We pay 95 per cent of our staff, which includes agency workers, but the rest come from charities and volunteers," he said.

"We give a donation to all the charities that help out on the day.

"There were about 200 people helping with the event, which included traffic management and all the other roles.

"We just run two events now, this one in Shrewsbury and a 10 kilometre race in Stoke."

Alan Ritchings, 45, from Telford, who works for Tesco, said he was racing on the day after catching the "running bug" during a keep fit regime.

He said: "This is my sixth half marathon and second one here.

"I hadn't done as much training as I should have but I was hoping to break two hours.

"I have run for quite a few charities in the past but I'm just running for pride today.

"I didn't get into running until I was well into my thirties but I've tried to improve on my time each time."

Colin Rogers, 38, from Telford, who also works for Tesco, said: "I got into running to try and improve my fitness and thought I'd give Shrewsbury a go with Alan."

Ellie Ballinger, 22, from Dawley, who works in customer service, completed the course in one hour and 55 minutes.

She said: "This was my second half marathon. The first one I completed in Sheffield while my sister was competing in a swimming gala.

"I'm also part of the Wrekin Road Runners so I've done a bit of training and my aim was to break two hours."

And what a great event it is, a credit to those who take part for all sorts of reasons, the organisers who put themselves out, and to the county town which hosts it, as events like these do mean some folk have to be prepared to put up with some temporary disruption.

There have been problems this year, however, which just go to show how difficult it can be to get events like this 100 per cent right.

First there were issues over the posting of race packs to runners, with hundreds having to fork out £1.11 to the Royal Mail because of a problem with the postage. And last night it emerged that the course may have run up to half a mile short, meaning the joy of runners who thought they had smashed their personal best time was short lived.

It is easy to criticise, and certainly these are errors that should never have occurred. They have confused fun runners and angered club runners.

But let's put this in perspective. Around 1,500 runners achieved their goal and brought life and colour to the streets of Shrewsbury.

Organisers should learn the lessons of this year and look forward to 2016.

Sam Risby, 22, a building surveyor from Welling in Kent, said: "I'm here with Ellie today but I've taken part in a few marathons.

"My personal best was one hour 35 minutes, but after a few injuries I'm using this as preparation for the Bournemouth Marathon."

Colette Duffy, 24, an assistant manager from Wellington, was competing in her first ever half marathon. She said: "I joined the Wrekin Road Runners and thought this would be a good challenge.

"I've also put in for the London Marathon so this will tell me how much training I'll have to do for that."

Steve Smith, scout leader with the 1st Shrewsbury Scout Group, said scouts, guides, cubs and brownies were out and about all day helping at the event.

"Our role here all forms part of the Scout Community Week," he said.

"It's like the old bob-a-job but we can't charge for the work we carry out anymore.

"We manned one of the water stations in Berwick Road and we also marshalled the fun run, which had one of our brownies competing in it." Anna Moszynska, 46, from Shrewsbury, a teacher at Abraham Darby School in Telford, said she had entered her first half marathon as a challenge.

"I've done two 10 kilometre runs now so I wanted to push myself a little bit further," she said.

"I've enjoyed all the running so far and signed up for an eight-week training programme.

"One of my children was ill last week so it meant I couldn't do any training but everything has been going well so far.

"I was hoping to break two hours and 23 minutes simply because I typed into a computer what I was likely to get – and that's what it came up with.

"It's been nice having something to focus on."

Neil Robins, 45, from Newport, who also teaches at Abraham Darby, said: "I ran the Shifnal and Stafford half marathons last year. My aim was to finish before it got dark, which is why I chose to run on the longest day of the year."

Annabel Hodgson, 45, a crime investigation officer from Shrewsbury, was running for the Shropshire Shufflers.

She said: "This is the second time I've entered the Shrewsbury half marathon.

"I've done quite a few in between but last year I injured my Achilles' tendon while running in this race, but I still managed to finish.

"I've just become a coach for the Shropshire Shufflers so there's a bit of friendly rivalry with me wanting to beat the runners I've been training."