If Netty Edwards never posted to Facebook about her race experience during the Spen 20, you’d have little reason know about the small 20-mile road race in Yorkshire, England.
According to her status, the 46-year-old Edwards was asked by a course marshal to withdraw after the first mile because her 12-minute-per-mile pace was too slow to support after 10 miles. Edwards claims there was no published cut-off time. Race officials claim they offered to let her start early before the rest of the field.
The Guardian and Daily Mail picked up the story because of the social media uproar, the hashtag “#Spen20” trended locally in England, and a race was planned to honor Edwards.
In the middle of the digital firestorm, runners and race officials had to face a difficult question: How slow is too slow in a road race?
To answer this, we asked three race directors from around the U.S. how they deal with the back of the pack. They all agree that the incident at Spen 20 may not have been handled well, but it highlights a major challenge when managing a race. Here’s what they had to say. (Interviews were edited and condensed for clarity.)
Geneva Lamm
Race Director, Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Field Size: 8,000
Little Rock Marathon
Just because somebody is having a slow or off day, that’s no reason to make them feel like they are less than an athlete. When you are pushing to beat the cut-off time and fall behind it, it just makes you feel like a second-class citizen.
Our cut-off time is officially eight hours. We have that cut-off time because we are in a city. I’m paying for it all so everybody gets overtime if we pass it. Also, volunteers can be out there for so long that they have a tendency to leave.
I am of the philosophy that as long as somebody is physically able, are trained, and in good spirits, we are going to let them finish. I know some races are not that fortunate. If you have a faster cut-off time, as race directors even if you do communicate it, some runners have a sense of entitlement.
If you know you are going to run longer than the cut-off, this is my advice: Assume race officials are going to pull everything off the course. Put some money on your person and have the course map. Don’t expect race directors to give you a finish time or medal. Don’t have that sense of entitlement, because at the point they say you are beyond the cut-off time, you assume all of the risk.
Joyce Forier
Race Director, Race directors weigh in on managing the back of the pack
Field Size: 500
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We run on federal land, so our cut-off time is basically what we have contracted through the permitting agencies. Aside from what we are contractually allowed with the government agency, there are a multitude of services that revolve around the cut-off time; it includes the medical team, the ambulance, the timing company. My vendors don’t charge by the minute. If you go 10 minutes over, they charge for the whole hour. That means it could literally cost me $1,000 or more if we go over the cut-off time. People say “have a heart, let them finish.” But then I have to go write the check.
My cut-off times are always very clear. There is no ambiguity. At the end of the day, communication is key.
It’s always difficult to tell a runner they have to leave the course. I am an athlete myself. I get it. When I have had to tell people, I don’t think I have had one runner understand the predicament. It’s always met with venom—well, venom might be too strong of a word, but it’s always, “I’m going to finish on my own no matter what.” That’s all well and good, but despite what they say, they are still on the permit.
I think we as race directors are criticized because people think, “Oh, come on have a heart.” I think runners need to understand that there are logical reasons.
Les Smith
Race Director, Portland Marathon
Field Size: 7,500
Location: Portland, Oregon
Our marathon has been built on the reputation that we don’t have a real cut-off time. We have the blessing from the city to allow walkers. We do have an eight-hour stated pace, but in a field of 7,500 we usually have 200 people that go beyond that. Some of the services will remain for them. At that point it’s like we are running a 200-person event. We take care of them and follow them; we don’t remove them from the course.
I think a cut-off time is always directly related to the nature of the course. We are blessed that we are allowed to be open for a long time. Our challenge then is just logistics and care-taking.
I think there’s an obligation by the event and an obligation by the runner to work together. If you have advised runners in advance—through warnings and email instructions—about the cut-off, I think all you need to do is follow through.
When you don’t announce that there is going to be a limit, you are asking for trouble as was the case in England. It’s a good lesson. We as race directors learn lessons all the time.
Kit has been a health, fitness, and running journalist for the past five years. His work has taken him across the country, from Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, to cover the 2016 Olympic Trials to the top of Mt. Katahdin in Maine to cover Scott Jurek’s record-breaking Appalachian Trail thru-hike in 2015.
