I have a question concerning the London Flora Marathon and Cleveland Marathon.
First of all, let me point you to the IAAF road rules for road races:
http://www.bcathletics.org/main/rr_iaaf.htmRule 240-4 states:
4. The distance in kilometres on the route shall be displayed to all athletes.
The London Flora Marathon displays only the distances in kilometres for every 5 km. Does't the rule require that the every kilometre be displayed? If it does require every kilometre to be displayed, then how is it they are able to get their course certified while breaking the rules?
Cleveland Marathon:
Bck in April 2002, Cleveland sponsored its annual 10 km and Marathon race. Back then, there was a story in the Cleveland Plain Dealer about how a woman from Ethiopia, thinking she was at 4 km mark, was really at the 4 mile mark as the distances were marked in miles only.
The article is no longer available on line, but the author of the article, Mary Schmitt Boyer, did mention how this was yet another error brought on by continuing to use non-metric units, especially in an event that attracts foreign competitors who have no concept of what miles are.
This was the dead link, but an excerpt of the article is below it:
http://www.cleveland.com/sports/plaindealer/index.ssf?/...1020077709217197.xml Abeba Tola traveled more than 7,300 miles (11 750 km) from Ethiopia to take part in the women's 10-kilometre portion of the 25th CVS/pharmacy Cleveland Marathon. But it was the fourth mile yesterday that cost her.
Tola, 25, was running with Jackline Toroni of Kenya at that point, and then Toroni began to pull away. Tola, thinking she was at the 4-kilometer mark instead of the 4-mile mark, did not go with her.
My question on this is, how is the Cleveland Marathon certified and how is it legal according to IAAF rules if the rule 240-4 is not followed? By not marking the route in kilometres according to the rules, some runners may be at a disadvantage as expressed above. This woman spent the time to travel to Cleveland only to be cheated out of a victory.
What can be done in the future to force those who hold these events to follow the rules?
