Maine Marathon Organizers Apologize To Runners Who Traveled Farther Due To Error

An error in the route of the Maine Coast Marathon sent some runners on a longer trek, and now organizers are apologizing and offering refunds.

It sounds like something out of an episode of Seinfeld. Runners in Sunday's marathon were mistakenly sent down a dead end road, and had to loop back to the course. You can almost see Kramer tripping and knocking a directional sign sideways, causing runners to pile up at the dead end.

But, in truth, it was no laughing matter. The error brought the runners' total journey to 26.7 miles. And it caused some of them to miss out on a chance to compete in next year's Boston Marathon. The course was corrected but organizers say that, because not everyone ran the same distance, it's impossible to just adjust their run times.

Race Director Charles Melton has said that refunds will be offered to those who missed qualifying for Boston because of the mistake. Runners who traveled that extra half-mile can get more information about the refund policy on the event's Facebook page.