Honolulu Marathon Timing Mistakes
“We screwed up.”
That was race director Jim Barahal’s response in today’s Honolulu Advertiser to claims of faulty times on runner’s finisher certificates. Barahal also acknowledged that the marathon association could be faced with lawsuits from angry runners. I find that thought ridiculous!
Jim Barahal is a stand up guy, and I think that he is accepting more responsibility here than need be. Hey, stuff happens; and the rain screwed up the clocks. Unless you were one of the front runners or out to set a record in your time group, I say, “So what?”
Stop my running watch was the first thing I did as I crossed that line in 1984, and I remember that time well; 4 hours, 36 minutes. I don’t even know where the certificate is, and I threw away the t-shirt long ago. It’s the memory that counts, not the stats.
All of the runners that hit that finish line have done something special, whether it was in 3 hours, 4 hours or more. Congratulations!
