Sheffield Half Marathon is a shambles

[999tigger 10]

I wonder if the person being interviewed by Toby Foster on Radio Sheffield in the morning will be the same woman who smirked and smiled her way through statements on the day?

 

IF the water had been ordered and paid for (as the company states was required by their Terms and Conditions) surely the organisers have a copy of the payment transaction. This would show the water was ordered. Since they haven't so far made this document available for people to see I wonder if the signed order / payment receipt doesn't actually exist

 

If you follow the story then youd realise the payment transaction didnt exist. the order and order acceptance might, but a <REMOVED> up appears to have happened where the organisers by human error didnt realuse they had to pay in advance and the suppliers failed to effectively draw this to their attention or warn them that no water was being delivered. Cue debacle.

 

They never claimed they paid, just that they didnt realise they had to. Many businesses just work on being invoiced.

Edited June 3, 2014 by alternageek
removed masked swearing

[Waldo 96]

Can't disagree with you Fudbeer. The letter itself has something of a less-than-completely-honest slimy feel to it.

[mumkin 10]

Can't disagree with you Fudbeer. The letter itself has something of a less-than-completely-honest slimy feel to it.

 

It certainly has.

 

It seems to me that this letter is tantamount to a ransom letter........"Claim the money and the dogs get it" (or don't in this case)

[dazza6069 10]

Just been listening to this discussion about the half marathon. Yes the organisers are volunteers but that does stop them having a care of duty for all the participants. And that idiot at the end who tried to blame the police, yet another police hater.

Blame the organisers and not a cheap shot at the police.

[SYorksDeano 10]

So after a few weeks of the organisers 'investigating' what went wrong they are coming out with the same excuses.

 

Now organisers are saying that if you reclaim your money, then the charities will suffer.

 

The letter it would seem mentions nothing about what this alleged investigation has uncovered other than more recycled excuses.

 

What happened to the £3000 that should have paid for the water?

 

Why are the organisers 'hiding' who made mistakes.

 

Was the water previously paid for on time over the past few years? Could this be the reason why Water Direct wanted payment up front as they have had issues with the organisers previously paying on time.

 

Lots of questions still remain, and if I was representing one of the charities I would be disgusted with the letter these alleged organisers have sent to runners.

 

Would be interesting if someone could receive copies of Sheffield Marathon Ltd's accounts....bet they would make interesting reading

[InigoMontoya 10]

If you follow the story then youd realise the payment transaction didnt exist. the order and order acceptance might, but a <REMOVED>up appears to have happened where the organisers by human error didnt realuse they had to pay in advance and the suppliers failed to effectively draw this to their attention or warn them that no water was being delivered. Cue debacle.

 

They never claimed they paid, just that they didnt realise they had to. Many businesses just work on being invoiced.

 

You do know "<REMOVED> up" isn't profane language?

 

It's a reference to the printing trade when metal type was laid out in formes, if the type wasn't laid out flush to the frame, it would "<REMOVED> up" out of true, and lead to the printed words not being in line.

 

(Other sources suggest it might be related to flintlock firearms, where the firing pin jumped out of true - i.e. when the pistol was cocked, the pin was too far "up" to strike the pan when the trigger was pulled.

 

But they are wrong.)

Edited June 3, 2014 by alternageek
Removed masked swearing

[999tigger 10]

So after a few weeks of the organisers 'investigating' what went wrong they are coming out with the same excuses.

 

They seem to have failed to provide clear answers, owned up to their part or shown much contrition. Poorly handled.

 

 

Now organisers are saying that if you reclaim your money, then the charities will suffer.

 

Which is correct, but they could have phrased it much better, so the impression was not a guilt, but just a stayement of fact.

 

What happened to the £3000 that should have paid for the water?

 

It will be in the accounts. one imagines it will be used to pay for some of the refunds.

 

Why are the organisers 'hiding' who made mistakes.

 

Head in sands plus to avoid a witch hunt. Wrong straegy though and bad pr imo.

 

Was the water previously paid for on time over the past few years?

 

Apparently so.

 

Could this be the reason why Water Direct wanted payment up front as they have had issues with the organisers previously paying on time.

 

No

 

if I was representing one of the charities I would be disgusted with the letter these alleged organisers have sent to runners.

 

Nothing alleged about it. They were the organisers. Disgusted charities? Thye might not approve or think it could have been expressed differently. The crux of it is true that any refunds would be coming from the money they were intending to give to charities.

 

Would be interesting if someone could receive copies of Sheffield Marathon Ltd's accounts....bet they would make interesting reading

 

Think they will be quite boring tbh. It will just show the extra costs associated with the mess that happened and how mych that affected the amount awarded to charities. You should be able to get them online anywaywhen lodged at year end if you are that interested.

 

---------- Post added 03-06-2014 at 10:50 ----------

 

You do know "<REMOVED> up" isn't profane language?

 

Thanks. Some forums have auto censoring, so was just avoiding getting into trouble of it applied here.

Edited June 3, 2014 by alternageek
Removed masked swearing

[SYorksDeano 10]

Just another thought......

 

How much has it cost them to post these letters out to runners and has any of that money come from money that should be sent to charities

[PeteM01 10]

Just another thought......

 

How much has it cost them to post these letters out to runners and has any of that money come from money that should be sent to charities

 

I guess they used the stamps bought for sending the certificates out...

[SYorksDeano 10]

So here is the letter that they have sent out:

 

Dear Runner,

 

Sheffield Half Marathon 2014

 

We are writing to you with an update on the 2014 Sheffield Half Marathon and we apologise for the delay in this response whilst we investigated matters. We thank you for your patience.

 

Once more, we would like to sincerely apologise to you, your family, friends and supporters for the cancellation of the event. The organising committee is as devastated as everyone that the event had to be cancelled on the day.

 

We are aware of the resulting significant media and social media coverage of the event. Our volunteers have done their best to respond and investigate. This letter is intended to personally give you a factual update.

 

Cancellation

 

The reason for cancellation was that, despite having placed the order for the delivery of water to the course, the water was not delivered. We have worked successfully with the same provider on the previous two events.

 

As you might be aware, immediate and strenuous efforts were made to obtain water from other sources and, as a result, the race start was delayed to allow time for this to happen. Unfortunately, however, sufficient amounts of water could not be sourced in the time available. The race Safety Officer, therefore, had to take the difficult decision to cancel the race. The health and safety of runners is absolutely paramount and, with the levels of available water falling short of the road running health guidance, cancellation was the only option.

 

Had we chosen to go ahead with the race and there had been a catastrophic event, the consequences would have been significant. We are aware that the problems relating to the delayed start and subsequent cancellation were made worse by poor public address communication with runners waiting on Coleridge Road. Again, we can only apologise for this. It resulted from us operating the race from a new location and there are clearly lessons to be learnt from this. Charities

 

The event is promoted by Sheffield Marathon Ltd through a volunteer committee and supported by unpaid volunteers. We have successfully organised the event for more than 30 years and in this time we have raised over £1.5m for local charities.

 

The Sheffield Half Marathon is one of the few remaining events of its kind, where all money raised (through entry fees, sponsorship and commercial enterprise) goes to either the cost of the race or to charity. Once the event costs have been met (which includes stewarding, fencing, toilets, baggage storage, medals, T-Shirts, signage, medical cover, marquees etc), the residue is paid to ten annually nominated charities.

 

The current charities are: The Children's Hospital Charity, Breast Cancer Care, St Luke's Hospice, Sheffield Academy of Young Leaders, South Yorkshire MS Therapy Centre, SAFE@LAST, Bluebell Wood Children's Hospice, Sheffield Wildlife Trust, Support Dogs and Myasthenia Gravis Association.

 

The principal aim of the Sheffield Half Marathon is to raise monies for these good causes. In 2012 the charity total was £175,000.

 

Refund Requests

 

We recognise that some runners have been asking for a refund of their entry fee. As we have stated publicly, the entry forms made it clear that entry fees were non-refundable. However, it is important to explain why this is the case.

 

Despite the cancellation on the day, we trust you will appreciate that the full event infrastructure was still provided (everything from medical support to the provision of toilets and baggage storage). Indeed, more than 4,000 runners completed the course and, in doing so, were supported by this infrastructure. Those costs still had to be met.

 

Once these costs are taken from the entry fee income any residue is donated to the ten benefitting charities to further the good causes they support.

 

Therefore, any refunds that are made will inevitably have to come directly out of money that would otherwise go to charity. Nevertheless, given the public reaction to the cancellation, as a gesture of goodwill, we have decided (without any admission of liability and on an ex gratia basis only) that we will consider applications for refunds for entry fees only out of the charitable sum stated above. If requests for refunds exceed the money available then proportionate refunds will be made on a pro-rata basis.

 

This will of course mean that this money will not be available to give to our charities. However, if you would like to take up the offer of a refund of your entry fee, an application in writing should be sent to Sheffield Marathon Ltd, c/o Support Dogs, 21 Jessops Riverside, Brightside Lane, Sheffield S9 2RX stating your name, address, runner number, and amount claimed.

 

If you have already requested a refund, can we please ask you to re-apply by letter.

 

The deadline for refund applications is midnight on Friday 20 June 2014. Our aim will be to make any refunds by the end of July 2014. Once again, we sincerely apologise for your experience this year. As you might expect, we will be reviewing the options for the event in 2015 and further announcements on this will be made in due course.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Robert Jackson

 

Chairman Sheffield Marathon Ltd

 

Have Sheffield Marathon's 'Legal Team' actually said yes send this letter out?

 

The letter apologises for not providing the water and goes to claim that 'we trust you will appreciate that the full event infrastructure was still provided'....errr no it wasn't and the letter confirms this. Water would be part of the full event infrastructure.

 

It's obvious that the organisers don't want to admit to any mistakes that they have made but it is very clear that they have. It's clear just by looking on Twitter that a number of people won't be running next year due to the mess of this year.

 

Interesting how one of the directors 'resigned' just a few days after the <REMOVED> up

Edited June 3, 2014 by alternageek
Removed masked swearing

[999tigger 10]

They may not have a legal team. that would cost money.

 

1. Agree where is the result of the investigation. Its an insult that they will not say, unless there are ongoing legal avenues. I feel they know but by not telling its going to anger rather than satisfy. Dodging the question should get people angry.

2. The efforts to obtain water and cancelation on available water is not in dispute.

3. They don’t explain and aren’t contrite about the pa system. It could be written as a serious apology as many were seriously annoyed just on this aspect..

4. I don’t think the way the event splits the money is explained clearly enough. Sounds a bit patronising.

5. I think the charities should lose out and the runners should come first. No runners = no money to give to charities now or in the future.

6. Bit about refunds is poorly written. It just doesn’t read well which I feel angers the reader more than makes someone sympathetic towards them. I cant say about the refunds without looking at the exact clause they were trying to rely on. All sounded a bit unconvincing and the refunds as offered were made to take the sting out of the matter.

7. The pro rata basis makes sense.

8. I thought it was yours faithfully, unless it is to a named person? Dear Mr Bloggs.

It should have been rewritten.

9. It could say the same things better and in less space.

Edited June 3, 2014 by 999tigger

[SYorksDeano 10]

Something else which is a little worrying is this sentence in the letter:

 

'If you have already requested a refund, can we please ask you to re-apply by letter'

 

So where have any original requests gone?

 

That sentence makes me think that the organisers don't have any filing system of sorts and that letters seem to be disappearing, which might explain the reason why the water bill was not paid.

 

Also how much are Sheffield Marathon Ltd paying Support Dogs in order to use their premises for post?