well a silly suggestion also but are there no local taps in anyones houses or stores that could have filled containers up?
That's what I was thinking.
For 5,000 runners who all paid an entry fee and presumably had lots of charity sponsorship, could they not have tapped into the mains water supply a few places along the course and just used paper cups?
For 5,000 runners who all paid an entry fee and presumably had lots of charity sponsorship, could they not have tapped into the mains water supply a few places along the course an just used paper cups?
Probably, But what if as it is not planned correctly and someone gets to a point where they need a drink, And it is not there....Opens up all sorts of issues for organisers.
Would it happen? Almost certainly not, But they can't risk it
They said on the news there will be no refunds! How did they figure that out? It's not like an Act Of God flooded the course... more like a lack of an act by their delivery lorry.
They said on the news there will be no refunds! How did they figure that out? It's not like an Act Of God flooded the course... more like a lack of an act by their delivery lorry.
Well these organisers do seem to be idiots,
They seem to think that stating no refunds in the T&C means they don't have to refund. They are wrong and will be backing down when someone points out to them that taking money for a service you do not provide will result in civil action and possible criminal investigation.
The suppliers are Water Direct- not exactly a small, local company as I expected: they've supplied water to the Olympic Games. They've issued a statement:
Water Direct can confirm that the organisers of the Sheffield Half Marathon approached it in February regarding a supply of drinking water for their event on 6th April 2014. We quoted Sheffield Half Marathon for the provision of temporary drinking water tanks, a similar service that we had provided for them last year.
We are devastated that this event had to be cancelled and are investigating and liaising closely with the organisers to establish exactly what led to this outcome.
Keith Silcock, Managing Director of Water Direct, said; “We appreciate the efforts of everyone involved in organising and taking part in this event, and the people of Sheffield who supported it. As a gesture of goodwill Water Direct shall be offering a free water supply service to next year’s Sheffield Half Marathon. We can certainly assure there will be no problems whatsoever and hope this goes some way to restoring the pleasure and benefits of this event to the people of Sheffield”.
Water Direct has specialised in the provision of alternative water supplies since 1996 and we are proud of the quality and absolute reliability of our service. We were the chosen provider of bulk wholesome water to 24 Olympic & Paralympic Games venues, including the Olympic Park, 16 London Venues and 7 others across Great Britain.
Water Direct was selected against the critical parameters of capability, quality assurance, reliability and value for money. Without the quality assured drinking water that we delivered being available on time, every time, the events could not have taken place
Bit of a strange one: the water company says only that they quoted the water order to the race organisers, maybe the order was never actually confirmed?
However the fact they're offering a free supply next year seems to indicate they might have been at fault, unless it's simply just a nice gesture.
It was probably the correct decision not to go ahead - and those who ran anyway were unwise to do so. People get very ill from dehydration over that length of a course. I know you'd be fairly angry; but you have to hydrate on a long run.
It was probably the correct decision not to go ahead - and those who ran anyway were unwise to do so. People get very ill from dehydration over that length of a course. I know you'd be fairly angry; but you have to hydrate on a long run.
I agree the organisers didn't have much choice, no matter who's fault the issue was- however there seems to have been a bit of misreporting in all the media stories that everyone who ran "chose to" run anyway, when in fact a vast majority who ran weren't even aware of the cancellation due to poor communication.
It was probably the correct decision not to go ahead - and those who ran anyway were unwise to do so. People get very ill from dehydration over that length of a course. I know you'd be fairly angry; but you have to hydrate on a long run.
It was only a half marathon on a rainy early April morning in Yorkshire. People may get I'll from dehydration but that risk was very small. I fail to see how one water station couldn't have been provided. Anyway for most runners hypernatremia is a much greater risk. There have been many slower runners who have died in the misguided believe they need to chug down loads of water even in the cool conditions like Sunday.
Of all the halfs I have done I don't think I have ever had more than one drink per race and really that hasn't been needed. I suppose there are certain insurance conditions that had to be fulfilled . I did the Edinburgh marathon in 2009 when some of the water was stolen from the water stations. The weather that day was in the 80s and the water ran out for the slower runners. People really suffered. However it would have been very difficult for the organisers to call the race off. I know that personally nothing would have stopped me running in Sheffield.
Another statement from Water Direct- turns out they weren't paid!
Water Direct has specialised in the provision of quality assured drinking water since 1996 and we have established an unrivalled track record for quality assurance and successful delivery, including supporting many major water emergencies.
We refute the comments being made by the organisers of the Sheffield Half Marathon and in the media that we let them down by failing to deliver the water to this event. We have been trying since Sunday to get the organisers to communicate with us before we responded fully to media enquiries but have so far received few and mixed messages from different members of the organising committee.
We quoted them for the provision of temporary drinking water tanks, a similar service to that provided to them for the last two years. After amending their requirements a number of times they did indeed place an order on 21st March accepting our offer, the terms of which, as always, clearly state that full payment is required in advance of delivery. It is the payment that confirms the contract and triggers our process of scheduling the assets for delivery. In the absence of that payment, despite our reminding them of the need to pay, the scheduling did not occur.
We have carried out our own internal investigations into the circumstances leading to this dreadful situation and have been expecting the organisers to do the same. As a result we have reviewed our processes and implemented improvements. We have offered our support to the organisers, who we trust will be examining their own processes to establish why payment was not made on time to ensure delivery of such an essential service.
As a gesture of goodwill we have already offered our support to the organisers, one of these being our commitment to provide all the water services free next year. Also, in recognition of all the hard work of participants and the people of Sheffield in preparing for this race, and the frustration and disappointment of all involved by the decision to cancel it, we are currently considering further aspects of support over which we are trying to liaise with the Trustees.
Surely it's obvious that one of the reasons this happened was because of the compensation culture. Every organisation appears to be running scared of being sued, nowadays. Personal responsibility no longer seems to cut it. I guess we've only ourselves to blame, with a big dollop of input from certain fields within the legal profession. Sounds like the event wasn't very well organised anyway, though.
Comments
For 5,000 runners who all paid an entry fee and presumably had lots of charity sponsorship, could they not have tapped into the mains water supply a few places along the course and just used paper cups?
Probably, But what if as it is not planned correctly and someone gets to a point where they need a drink, And it is not there....Opens up all sorts of issues for organisers.
Would it happen? Almost certainly not, But they can't risk it
They should name and shame them.
Well these organisers do seem to be idiots,
They seem to think that stating no refunds in the T&C means they don't have to refund. They are wrong and will be backing down when someone points out to them that taking money for a service you do not provide will result in civil action and possible criminal investigation.
Bit of a strange one: the water company says only that they quoted the water order to the race organisers, maybe the order was never actually confirmed?
However the fact they're offering a free supply next year seems to indicate they might have been at fault, unless it's simply just a nice gesture.
I agree the organisers didn't have much choice, no matter who's fault the issue was- however there seems to have been a bit of misreporting in all the media stories that everyone who ran "chose to" run anyway, when in fact a vast majority who ran weren't even aware of the cancellation due to poor communication.
It was only a half marathon on a rainy early April morning in Yorkshire. People may get I'll from dehydration but that risk was very small. I fail to see how one water station couldn't have been provided. Anyway for most runners hypernatremia is a much greater risk. There have been many slower runners who have died in the misguided believe they need to chug down loads of water even in the cool conditions like Sunday.
Of all the halfs I have done I don't think I have ever had more than one drink per race and really that hasn't been needed. I suppose there are certain insurance conditions that had to be fulfilled . I did the Edinburgh marathon in 2009 when some of the water was stolen from the water stations. The weather that day was in the 80s and the water ran out for the slower runners. People really suffered. However it would have been very difficult for the organisers to call the race off. I know that personally nothing would have stopped me running in Sheffield.