MEMPHIS, Tenn. — When you have a marathon of St. Jude’s magnitude, you expect plenty of people. They were certainly packed into downtown to kick off the 2015 St. Jude Memphis Marathon.
Those running the relay part of the race ran into a relapse.
Shuttles that were supposed to drop them off at their exchange points weren’t ready for the runners. Just a few mini FedEx buses that can carry about 25 people were used to transport crowds in the hundreds, which meant some people were left waiting and waiting.
Concerned they would be late, some runners hopped in a cab or Uber.
St. Jude Marathon told us no one was available to discuss the shuttle issues Monday, but it would be going over things in the next few days.
“I just felt they should have done a little better planning,” one runner said.
Those who waited on the buses also had to deal with some drivers who didn’t know the drop-off points and got lost.
“All the bus drivers should have been familiar with both routes, and that was part of the problem. They were not as familiar,” the runner said.
It meant that some relay runners arriving at their exchange point to pass their relay bib to their next team runner found no one there to make the exchange. Their team members were still waiting on the shuttle or they were on a shuttle that was lost.
“That was my biggest concern. I impacted whoever was behind me and I impacted their finish time,” the runner said.
This year was a new route for the marathon. Many runners say a little more organization would have helped.
The race started at 2nd Street and Court Street and had a sea of runners packed into a small space, which meant some waited almost 30 minutes before they could start. For the first time, narrow streets in the Cooper Young neighborhood were a part of the race route, and traffic was still allowed to flow, leaving some marathon runners saying things were a seemed a little cramped.
We are trying to get some answers from St. Jude.
Runners said despite the issues, the race is about the kids who are helped at St. Jude and that makes it worth it, but there may be some tweaking St. Jude needs to do for 2016, especially since this race just keeps getting bigger.