Wrong turn leads to longer race at Prairie Fire

October 10, 2011|by Kim Hynes | KWCH 12 Eyewitness News

(WICHITA, Kan.) — A wrong turn leads to a longer race and some upset athletes. 958 people signed up to run the 5K at Sunday's Prairie Fire in downtown Wichita. But many of them crossed the finish line later than anticipated.

"This was my first chance to get out there, set a benchmark and now I don't have that," said runner Joshua Spell. He doesn't have that benchmark because he has no idea exactly how far he ran. "To find out I didn't run a 5K, which was supposed to be my first was disappointing," he said.

He didn't run a 5K because the staffer leading the race took a wrong turn somewhere along the route. That led to confusion for all of the runners. "Apparently some people went too far and some people got turned around early," Spell said. So that meant all of the times were off. Organizers then opted against giving prize money and debated whether to even post times. The times were later posted as unofficial since the length of the race varied per person. "I feel terrible about it, it was human error," said organizer Bob Hanson with the Wichita Sports Commission.

Spell knows mistakes happen, but still wants a refund. "This wasn't a charity event, something we were doing for fun. This was a commercial event we paid money for," he said. He says that means he paid to have a marked route of 3.1 miles and to know how long it took when he crossed the finish line. But Hanson says the money paid for a lot more than that. "We have a lot of expenses, we still paid for police. We're trying to make it right, but we will not issue refunds," Hanson said.

He says he's very sorry and hopes runners can put it behind them. Another concern was many runner's left without t-shirts because they ran out. Hanson says more are on the way and everyone who didn't get a t-shirt will receive one. He also plans to put the $125 prize money that wasn't handed out into next year's prize. "This was a human error, they happen in car crashes and plane crashes and this was a 5K run. I hope people can keep it in perspective. It was a mistake that was made and we're very sorry about it," Hanson said.

Spell says he'll be happy to at least have a t-shirt, to show he crossed the finish line. But he says he'll continue to be disappointed that his first 5K turned out this way. He says while he understands the marathon and half marathon were much more important races overall, the 5K race was a new challenge for him. "If they wanted to do the 5K as tag along for something fun, they shouldn't have charged for it. But they charged for it so therefore they have obligations," he said.

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