MILWAUKEE (WTMJ/CNN) - So you think you had a great time in the 2017 PNC-Milwaukee Marathon? Not so fast, my friend.
The course was 4,200 feet short a year after being almost a half-mile too long in 2016.
Mandela Barnes, part of a running team where 25 people signed up for the race, was stunned at a second-straight Milwaukee Marathon math miscue.
"I could not believe it happened again," Barnes said. "In my mind, I got a really good time, and I think that it's just shy of an actual marathon is a little disappointing."
Barnes wasn't trying to qualify for another race, but Andrew Amato was. He was shooting for the 2019 Boston Marathon - the messed up Milwaukee course put a stop to that.
He knew something was wrong from following along on his GPS.
"All race long it was showing about two-tenths of a mile short, then between mile 21 and 23, it was all of a sudden six-tenths too short. It seemed like the turnaround point might have been a little too early.”
He was right. Organizers confessed that misinterpretation of the route certification map caused the turnaround on the Hank Aaron State Trail to be set in the incorrect spot, causing the route to be approximately 4.200 feet short.
That's about eight-tenths of a mile, which is a lot in marathon terms.
Amato put on a good face and said he’d get busy trying to find another qualifying race that can get him in the 2019 Boston.
Not everyone was so forgiving. A veteran running his eighth marathon vented to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
“It would be nice if this race could actually figure out how to lay down a 26.2-mile course,” Bill Lamers fumed.
Race organizers said they deeply regret that the “human error by experienced professionals happened.” They are notifying all concerned.
Copyright 2017 WTMJ via CNN. All rights reserved.
