Sheffield Half Marathon is a shambles

[tinfoilhat]

It is a real pity that some posters either do not read earlier posts or find them incomprehensible.

 

SCC IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SHM!!!

 

Not knowing what arrangements the organisers made to supply water then it's difficult to directly blame them for the fiasco.

Let's hear what the organisers have to say about the ****-up.

I'm surprised they did not name their supplier.

Maybe they should have used Yorkshire Water.

 

Are they not responsible for giving out licences etc? Due dilligence?

[I1L2T3]

Are they not responsible for giving out licences etc? Due dilligence?

 

The council are not responsible for every minute detail of everything they licence.

 

Or do you now want SCC to micro-manage everything they licence in the city?

 

---------- Post added 06-04-2014 at 16:42 ----------

 

This was a total utter disgrace, whoever planned the route has got a lot to answer for.

 

The route has been pretty much the same for quite a few years.

[999tigger]

Are they not responsible for giving out licences etc? Due dilligence?

 

I did have a brief look and cant see the council had anything to do with it. Looks like the licence is granted by UK athletics.

 

For anyone checking then I think they would examine the plan and requirements against set criteria. Water would be one of them and probably a condition which was needed for insurance coverage. Once they found they didnt have enough, then I imagine they had no choice to call it off because they had no insurance. There was a direct problem for the runners (mostly solved by the public handing out water), but if someone had died then people would be screaming blue murder about why it went ahead.

 

Its such a rare event, then maybe nobody ever considered it. It must have happened at very short notice because they were in supermarkets this morning. I doubt we will ever see this again as all other organisers will take note and make sure resources are in place.

 

The contingency planning seems to have been lacking, but these are volunteers who have run the event for many years without such a problem and have helped raise a lot of money.

Just learn from it and move on.

[natjack]

So it was called off due to H&S overload. Most runners ran, anyway. Water appeared along the route, anyway. Job done.

 

Thanks to the people of Sheffield's good spirit, the city comes out looking like the nice place all the polls say it is. (y)

 

Gather the event been taking place for years and hardly a mention even within the country. One little hiccup and the whole world is talking about us! Typical.

[1978]

I intended to run, starting as usual at the back. Shortly after 9 I heard an announcement that the race had been delayed until 9.30. Up to that point all seemed to be going reasonably well considering it was from a new starting point.

 

The bottle I usually keep for the first few miles got sipped, and by the time we started moving at 9.50 I chucked it away. At which point a policeman came running after us telling us the race was cancelled?**!? What was he on about, the race had just started? When I passed the lead car and BBC van still in the middle of the road I thought something was wrong and asked another policeman who confirmed it was cancelled and we'd all be turned back.

 

Yet most of us kept on going. Good old British bloody mindedness! I thought "what a shambles" and decided I wasn't going to be turned back and would have a nice walk anyway. They couldn't stop that. Which I duly did, apart from a few little jogs here and there once I realised the race was still on. No PBs possible now anyway.

 

I talked to other confused runners at the back. Most were first timers. I reassured them that this was the first time I'd experienced anything like this after many runs. Gradually we became aware there was supposed to be a shortage of water. There wasn't by the time we tail enders got round. There were gallons of water being offered from the official water stations, from cafes, pubs, shops and the great British public. We could have bathed in all that was left by the time we passed by.

 

Well done to those who decided they'd run anyway, and finished. Well done to all those who came out with water as we passed along the road. Well done to the organisers for getting a lot of water onto the course, albeit too late for front runners.

 

Embarrassment as I spoke to people waiting at the start who'd done lots of training and paid for kit and hotels specially for the event and we had no idea why we were waiting. Even more now we know why it was 'cancelled'! Some had come a long way for this event.

 

There were hundreds of volunteers involved in running this event. I feel sorry for them because there may only be one or two who had anything to do with the water shortage. Margaret Lilley has been the organiser for many years and must be gutted that the new venue wasn't the break point, but the simple matter of water. Which could have been resolved with standpipes and the cups they must already have had if they were expecting bowsers! Surely there were taps nearby to fill cans to avoid the need for bowsers?

 

We all make mistakes, but what a shambles indeed!

[Anna Glypta]

SHEFFIELD THE CITY OF SPORT

 

First we (they) knock down our athletics stadium and now this shambles

 

I wouldn't trust this council to run a bloody bath.

 

I bet the Tour de France will be thrilled.

[karl1986]

Do you know Sheffield City Council cease to amaze me. A marathon for gods sake!

[jimbo2107]

Just a small point that no one seems to have thought about, when the runners go out training very often covering a greater distance than the half marathon, do they have water stations set up then?. I think you will find the answer is a big NO, they take their own in little bottles so why has it turned out to be such a big problem.

[999tigger]

I bet the Tour de France will be thrilled.

 

But they are completely different oganisers, so why would they care?

 

Thanks 1978 for an informative post, especially about the water availability an pointing out that other people had spent money training and for hotels etc.

 

---------- Post added 06-04-2014 at 17:01 ----------

 

Just a small point that no one seems to have thought about, when the runners go out training very often covering a greater distance than the half marathon, do they have water stations set up then?. I think you will find the answer is a big NO, they take their own in little bottles so why has it turned out to be such a big problem.

 

Because the H&S rules plus maybe their licence from UK athletics demands it. It will also be a requirement for their public liability insurance.

[ilikecats]

Yep, once again the council lets the "City of Sport" (ha ha) down. What a complete mess. Bet this will be the last half marathon for this city! We used to have a full marathon and that got abandoned cos they couldnt cope and now they cant arrange a half marathon, Complete waste of time and money!!