Philadelphia Marathon organizers apologize after hundreds of runners didn't receive a medal
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Philadelphia Marathon is celebrating its 30th year this weekend but race organizers are apologizing after hundreds of runners did not receive a medal at the end of two preliminary events on Saturday.
"You know you finished, it's disappointing not to get it," Kim Tailor said.
Marathon Weekend is circled on Tailor's calendar every year.
She said the city comes alive with thousands of runners from around the world who pour their hearts into months of training but this year, Tailor is one of the runners who crossed the finish line and are still walking away disappointed.
"As someone who does a lot of races before it's like, you had 4,000 bibs you should have had 4,000 medals," Tailor said.
Nearly 17,000 runners finished the half marathon and 8K Saturday but roughly 500 of them did not receive a medal at the end of the races, leading to an apology from the Philadelphia Marathon.
"There were a lot of people that didn't get it near the end and it's kind of disappointing when you're a slow runner," Tailor said. "It's kind of another thing."
A spokesperson for the marathon tells CBS News Philadelphia organizers received record-breaking registration numbers and expected fewer runners to actually show up.
But the marathon saw the highest number of day of participants on Saturday which was significantly higher than race averages.
"I think you would be slightly frustrated if you turned up and you didn't get that," Mike Garden said.
Mike Grady and his co-worker Grant Bowdery are in Philly for the first time preparing to run the full marathon on Sunday.
"It's an incentive for us to run faster tomorrow to make sure they don't run out," Bowdery said.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the marathon said, in part:
"We understand the disappointment of not receiving a medal and are committed to rectifying this quickly."
To that end, the marathon said it will send a medal in the mail to anyone who didn't receive one Saturday and the runners will also receive a discount code for next year's registration.
"I think they know like they already messed up once, they can't mess up a second time," Tailor said.
The marathon spokesperson said based on projections, Sunday looks to be another record-breaking race day but there should be enough medals for all the participants running the full marathon.
