Marathon organizers say they won't reimburse runners who missed the bus

Organizers of the Seafair Marathon said Monday that they won't reimburse entry fees for runners who didn't make it onto a shuttle from Bellevue to the starting line at Husky Stadium in time for Sunday's race.

But they said they will donate half of those fees to charity, and they have promised to cover the entry fees for runners who missed the shuttle and want to race in either next month's Torchlight Run or next year's Seafair Marathon.

The snafu had prompted outrage from some would-be marathoners who missed the race. They accused the organizers of poor planning and an inadequate response to the problem.

Runners paid between $65 and $100 to participate.

Shuttles to the event began running at 5 a.m. Sunday, but more people than expected showed up for the later shuttles, with the last scheduled run leaving at 6:45 a.m. Roughly 400 people who had signed up to run the full marathon didn't make it onto that shuttle from Bellevue's Downtown Park to the starting line at Husky Stadium, said Seafair President Beth Knox.

Organizers were able to delay the 7 a.m. start time until 7:15 a.m., enabling half of those runners to get to the stadium — with many of them driving themselves, she said.

The remaining runners were shuttled to the midway point in Kirkland to run a half-marathon, Knox said, noting that no runners "were left stranded" in Bellevue. Though she couldn't say whether any runners chose not to race because of the transportation problems, she said racers' start times would indicate who was affected.

Knox said the marathon's start time couldn't be delayed any longer because of "very tight time limitations" for runners crossing the Evergreen Point floating bridge. Under an agreement with the state Transportation Department, "the bridge had to be cleared no later than 9:30," she said.

It was the first time the race had been run over the bridge.

That chance to run across the bridge was the sole reason first-time marathoner Heidi Weekes signed up to run Sunday's half-marathon. Weekes, 23, of Auburn, said Monday that she and her brother were in line for a shuttle at 6:15 a.m. but didn't make it onto any of the buses.

She was able to run only the second half of the course, and that didn't include the bridge.

She said that when organizers announced there would be no more buses, waiting runners were "shocked and angry."

"It was a mess," she said. "I was really surprised. I thought it being a Seafair event it would be a little better organized."

Monday, the event organizers sent an e-mail to roughly 5,000 race participants apologizing to the racers who were inconvenienced by the shuttle situation.

"As a gesture of our appreciation to any runner unable to catch a shuttle bus or run the full marathon by choice, Seafair will donate half of their registration fee to our marathon charity, The Floyd & Delores Jones Cancer Institute at Virginia Mason," the e-mail said.

Said Weekes: "That's about the least they could do."

Another problem cropped up because of Sunday's heat and the fact that about 1,500 more people turned out for this year's marathon than last year's event.

Though organizers brought in more water because of the large turnout and the weather forecast, some complained that water supplies were low at some points along the race.

Many runners also strained supplies by dumping water on their heads to stay cool, Knox said.

Extra water was provided by marathon sponsor Talking Rain, and race volunteers purchased water at retail stores near their stations, Knox said.

Knox said that although it's unfortunate some runners didn't "get the experience they signed up for," organizers "are very pleased the vast majority had a great race and experienced something very historic in crossing the 520 bridge."

Now organizers are thinking about next year, Knox said.

The last shuttle to the starting line may leave earlier, and organizers may add additional shuttles.

Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com