At the Half marathon In the Austrian town of Wels, 30 kilometers southwest of Linz, a strange breakdown occurred: the running route was too short. Instead of the official half marathon length of 21.0975 kilometers, several hundred meters were missing.

Many runners were initially happy about personal best times. It was only after the race that they realized their own recorded distance indicated otherwise. “Everyone looks at their sports watches in surprise,” reports participant Thomas S. dem Austrian News portal “Meinkreis.at“. He also only has his personal best because of the breakdown, but he doesn’t want to boast about it, he says.

Half marathon length too short: Organizer talks about a “series of unfortunate events”

After several runners complained on social networks about the length of the route being too short, the organizer admitted errors to “Meinbezirk.at”. They forgot to actively inform people about the shortened half marathon length.

reasons are Construction sites as well as organizational adjustments. “Something like this shouldn’t happen, and we are aware of it – but we have learned from it and will do better – it was a series of unfortunate events,” said the organizer.

Runners stand in front of a closed gate

There were also chaotic scenes at the previous five-kilometer run. According to “Meinkreis.at”, the route led, among other things, through a locked gate. Some runners even crossed private property. The organizer announced compensation for those affected.

At 21.0975 kilometers, a half marathon is exactly half as long as a marathon. Its exact distance of 42.195 kilometers was recorded Olympic Games Established in London in 1908. At that time the plan was to plan the route so that it started at Windsor Castle and ended at the Olympic Stadium – directly in front of the royal box. The international athletics association World Athletics later adopted this route as the official standard for marathons.