What Happened to this Years Myrtle Beach Marathon

Courtesy of WMBF News

By Trey Paul

MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) – Many runners have wondered why the Myrtle Beach Marathon was not postponed or moved to Sunday.

After the race was canceled due to the snow, participant Sira Weaver had the same question.

"It hurt a lot of people. A lot of people were upset that night," said Weaver.

Myrtle Beach City Manager Tom Leath says he made the decision to cancel the race the night before to keep runners safe, not to save the City of Myrtle Beach money, like some speculated.

"We could tell our staff we're not going to do it tonight. We're going to set up in the morning. We're going to set up on Sunday and we would have added staff to come in and do that. The fact that would have cost us some money was not something we took into account," said Leath.

"I think if it was any other race, they would have kept on going, but we're not used to snow here," said Weaver.

"From my point of view as a medical director, with snow on the ground, in most situations I don't see that as a problem," said Dr. Mark Schecker, medical director for the race.

Schecker says there was no way to guarantee all 1,500 volunteers would get the news about the cancellation and be able to be at the race at the new time.

Without their help, Schecker says the runner's safety would be put in jeopardy and that's why the race couldn't be moved to Sunday or delayed.

Story continued at WMBF News