Children's race mistakenly ends up on main road

Children taking part in the race turned the wrong way, which led them onto a main road

Children ended up running along a busy road during a race after a marshal at the event went to the wrong location.

Many of the five to 16-year-olds taking part in the Kilmacolm Community Running Festival's 3K race on Sunday turned right onto Knockbuckle Road rather than left, which saw them then running onto a route which had not been closed for the race.

Parents said cars had to brake and swerve to avoid the children after they ended up on the B786.

A spokesman for Inverclyde Leisure said the error had happened because of a marshal who was "confused about their assigned location".

"This led to participants turning right instead of left. As soon as this was highlighted the race was suspended," he said.

Children left 'shaken'

One father, who wished to remain anonymous, described the incident as "an absolute farce" and said it was lucky that children weren't knocked down.

He said his 11-year-old daughter had been hoping to get a time of under 13-minutes and he knew something was wrong when she didn't return.

"As time went on we became increasingly worried," he said. "We then saw children coming down roads that we knew weren't part of the course.

"Children had ended up on the B-road with a 60mph speed limit. Someone could quite easily have been killed."

The dad added that children had realised something was wrong when their Apple watches told them they had run 3k but weren't at the finish line.

"By the time our daughter got back she was shaken... she had ran 5k."

He said he had made an official complaint to Inverclyde Council, adding that "someone should be held accountable for this."

'Unfortunate incident'

The Inverclyde spokesman added that parents had been informed and had been offered a refund, a transfer to next year's event, or for the children to re-run the race.

"While this was an unfortunate incident, we're pleased to highlight the overall success of both the 10K and half marathon events, which brought the community together," he said.

"We would like to extend our sincere thanks to all marshals, helpers, sponsors, running clubs, residents, and everyone involved for their continued support of the Kilmacolm Community Running Festival."