The Edmonton Half, Measured — Part 3: The Verdict
Two days after the race — one day after defending the certification — the Edmonton Marathon admitted the half and full both ran 674.7 m long and apologised. Here is the resolution: what the statement says, how it matches the mechanism the data pointed to, and what runners holding a slower-than-earned official time can do while Athletics Canada decides how the results will be recognized.
The verdict arrived from the organisers themselves
The resolution: the organisers admitted it
On the evening of August 18 — two days after the race, and one day after publicly defending the certification — the Edmonton Marathon emailed registered participants an updated statement. It confirms the mechanism this analysis found: the Wellington Bridge detour was only partially offset by the turnaround adjustment, leaving the half marathon and marathon courses 674.7 m long. Our independent figure, published before the admission, was +683 m — eight metres away.
Read the organisers’ full statement (unedited)
“Updated statement” from the Edmonton Marathon, received by email as a registered participant, August 18, 2026, 6:09 pm. Reproduced in full and unedited:
The Edmonton Marathon’s previous statement detailing confidence in the course certification process was issued with the best information it had at the time. Since then, and after receiving notes from participants, including elite athletes that the course ran longer than its certified distance, we undertook a detailed review of the physical measurement of the certified course. That review has identified an error in how this year’s detour related course adjustments were calculated and for that we sincerely apologize. The additional distance added for the Wellington Bridge detour was partially offset with adjustments made to the course’s west end turnaround point. Upon review it was determined that the turnaround point did not fully offset the addition of the detour, which resulted in a net increase to the distance of the half marathon and marathon courses of 674.7m.
The event owns this error, and we take full responsibility. We appreciate the many participants who have emailed and the ones that we have followed up with to have additional conversations. While we pursued the highest level of professional course measurement and certification available, an error occurred.
We do not take this lightly. We understand that every participant arrives at the start line having invested months of dedicated training, hard work, courage and deeply held goals. We also understand we hosted the nation’s best athletes and their finishing times did not truly reflect their amazing performances. We also understand the connection this event has with our city and its pride in delivering exceptional world class events.
The integrity of the course distance is fundamental and we acknowledge that we did not deliver the standard participants deserved. We recognize many participants ran qualifying times for future races, including Boston. We are working directly with Athletics Canada and other relevant partners to determine how this year’s results can be recognized.
Moving ahead, we will review our certification processes with our partners and ensure this error does not happen again.
We thank everyone for their patience as we work through this and anyone with specific questions or concerns is encouraged to contact the Edmonton Marathon directly at info@edmontonmarathon.ca
Tom Keogh, Race Director, Edmonton Marathon
*Note: The 10km event was not professionally certified with physical measurement and not part of this statement.
Two things in the statement deserve flagging. The results question is genuinely open: the organisers say they are working with Athletics Canada “to determine how this year’s results can be recognized” — that sentence carries every Boston qualifier and the national championship placings. And the closing footnote quietly notes the 10 km event “was not professionally certified with physical measurement” at all.
What runners can do (pending — this section will be updated)
The honest answer today is that the most important outcomes are not yet decided. What we can say now:
- Keep your raw watch file. Export the original file from your watch platform and keep it unmodified. If results are adjusted, corrected times will be computed from course data — but your own raw track is your personal record of what you actually ran.
- Your fitness is better than your official time. Roughly 675 m at your race pace — call it two to four minutes depending on your speed — came from the course, not from you. Train and set targets off the corrected effort, not the posted clock.
- Boston and other qualifiers: wait before despairing. Athletics Canada and the organisers are reviewing how results will be recognized. If your posted time missed a standard by less than your share of the extra distance, your case is exactly what that review is for. Direct questions to info@edmontonmarathon.ca.
- Add your track to the public dataset. Every additional file sharpens the picture of exactly where the field ran and how much the course gave each runner: half marathon · marathon.
- Watch the open questions. How the amended certification was approved without a full re-measurement is still unanswered — our ongoing investigation of the paper trail is here.
This section will be updated as Athletics Canada’s review concludes and as answers arrive from the measurement and certification bodies.
The deeper question — how an amended certification carrying this error was approved, on paper, by the bodies whose own rules require re-measurement when a course changes “in any way” — is an open investigation: the certification paper trail, with every document linked.
Catch up: Part 1 — The Question laid out why one watch proves nothing; Part 2 — The Data shows the volunteered tracks and the three-course map.
Sources
- “Updated statement” from Tom Keogh, Race Director, Edmonton Marathon — emailed to registered participants August 18, 2026, 6:09 pm; received directly by this author as a participant and reproduced unedited above.
- CTV News Edmonton (Aug 18, 2026), "Edmonton Marathon course was not measured correctly, director says" — coverage of the admission.
- Canadian Running (Aug 18, 2026) — the initial defence, including the race director's detour and turnaround figures.
- Brown Family Sports — the full technical analysis and the ongoing certification-paper-trail investigation, with certificates, policies and the admission timeline linked.
- Rory Linkletter, OLY (@rory_linkletter), Instagram (Aug 18, 2026) — the race winner's account that first proposed the detour/turnaround mechanism.