Some runners participating in the Santa Cruz Westside Half Marathon over the weekend briefly veered off the designated path after a local farmer accidentally moved a course marker at Wilder Ranch State Park.
The race, which started Saturday morning at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Sand stretched along West Cliff Drive and into Wilder Ranch State Park, had more than 80 race monitors and Santa Cruz police officers monitoring the course. The event, in only its second year, also included 10-kilometer and 5-kilometer races.
Tom Bradley, race founder and director, told Lookout that a local farmer trying to access property north of the park caused confusion among runners. The course for the half-marathon, which looped into Wilder Ranch State Park, had already been fenced off, so there was no need for someone to monitor that portion of the route, said Bradley. Participants who veered off the route ran north rather than going toward the coastal part of the park. After Saturday’s race, the organization will probably consider having monitors there for future events, he said.
Bradley mapped out the half-marathon route in 2003, and it has been used for different races in Santa Cruz for nearly 20 years, he said. It was difficult to anticipate someone altering the course because it’s a route that’s been used for different races, Bradley said. Saturday’s mishap was the first time the route had been changed unexpectedly by someone who was not a race organizer.
“[The farmer] didn’t really know what they were doing, but they did alter our course,” said Bradley. “So, it was unfortunate for everybody.”
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