Half marathon ran out of finishers' medals

Runners in a city's half marathon said they were left "dejected" after the event ran out of finishers' medals.

About 15,000 people took part in the Cambridge Half Marathon on Sunday along the 13.1-mile (21.1-km) route through the city centre, Trumpington and Grantchester.

Stuart Byrne, 44, from Sutton in Cambridgeshire said finishing the run without a medal felt "depressing".

Event director Adam Moffat offered a "massive apology" to everyone affected and promised that those affected would be posted a medal and offered free entry into next year's race.

Byrne added: "After you've done 13.1 miles, you're tired, you're knackered, you're hurt," he said. "To be told, no you can't have [a medal] because we've messed up and not have a reason for that a bit sad and depressing."

Byrne, an IT worker, said the rest of the event was "well organised" with more volunteers, first aid stations and water stations than in previous years.

He has completed the Cambridge event three times and said he was the last person to be offered a branded tote bag on finishing this year, but these also ran out later.

It is not clear how many people were affected by the shortages. Byrne said there were "hundreds" more runners behind him.

Samantha Clarke, 48, from Ramsey in Cambridgeshire, was also "disappointed" to be left without a medal.

By the end of the race "most of the crowds have gone because it's a long time to wait for the last few stragglers," she said.

"The people at the back are the ones that need [a medal]," she added, as faster runners were more likely to have collected medals at other races.

Ms Clarke, a project manager at a design consultancy, was one of a group of three people who ran together in aid of the air ambulance charity MAGPAS after it responded to an incident in which somebody they were close to was involved in a collision while riding a motorcycle.

She said they aimed to raise £3,000, the cost of activating the air ambulance, which they had since surpassed.

Ms Clarke said another member of her group gave her his medal so she could take photos with it on race day.

Moffat told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire that the organisers would be "looking into what happened".

He said participants were "hopefully on track to raise £2m this year" for more than 50 charities, after raising £1.6m last year.

Entry to the Cambridge Half Marathon is ordinarily £70. Organisers have been contacted for further comment on how many runners did not get medals.

Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.