Sheffield Half Marathon in pictures
- Published
A total of 5,000 runners turned up at the start line on Sunday for this year's Sheffield Half Marathon unaware of the drama which was about to unfold. The first sign of a problem occurred when the start time was put back by half an hour. Runners have said little information was given to them at this time.
Then came the news that the race had been cancelled because of a lack of water for competitors to drink during the event. However, a "significant number" decided to defy the organisers and run the course anyway.
When spectators found out what was happening, they quickly rallied round and provided water to help the runners. Emily Wheeler was among them and said: "It was like Chinese whispers. It was on, then off, then on. We were at the midway point and I guess we saw several hundred people come through."
Spectator Emily Wheeler continued: "We were standing near a cafe and they came out with a table and cups so we could help hand out water."
Charlotte Sidwick, editor of new local newspaper S5 Observer, said she bought water from a local food shop to hand out while children and other spectators were giving sweets and snacks to runners.
Charlotte Sidwick added that competitors were sharing water between themselves during what had become an unofficial race.
Insp Neil Mutch of South Yorkshire Police said: "We attempted to convince runners not to carry on, but decided it was a lesser risk to let them run the race."
Margaret Lilley, chair of the Sheffield Half Marathon organising committee, apologised for the cancellation and said they would provide a list of all finishers with their times.
By the time runners had started to complete the race, there was some water available at the finishing line.
Lisa Steers (second right) said: "There were a lot of people that had collapsed around the course. We run a lot and know the hazards of not having enough fuel on board but for a lot of people it would be the only race they would do all year and they thought they would do it anyway."
- Published6 April 2014
