Error adds distance to running course

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SACRAMENTO, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- A cyclist leading runners in Sacramento's Urban Cow Half-Marathon made a wrong turn, adding more than a half-mile to the race's distance, race officials said.

The mistake Sunday affected 1,400 runners in the first group of 4,000 participants and added 0.64 of a mile to what was supposed to be a 13.1 mile race, nullifying attempts by many to set personal bests or establish qualifying times for future races, the Sacramento Bee reported Monday.

Rich Hanna, a Capital Road Race Management official, confirmed the runners in the first wave ran 13.74 miles, saying the lead cyclist made a wrong turn near the Sacramento Zoo in the city's William Land Park.

Many competitors realized a problem early in the race because they train with GPS devices and timers, the newspapers said.

I figured it out pretty quickly. We went off course within the first mile. By Mile 2 the rumor was spreading through the crowd, because we knew we had gone too far," said runner Alex Nichols.

Official times would be adjusted to reflect the longer course, Hanna said.