Great Eastern Run: ‘Misinterpretation’ triggers cancellation of half marathon after man seen acting ‘suspiciously’
Race called off at eleventh hour as armed police called in
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A “misinterpretation” led to a major armed response and a mass running event being cancelled at the eleventh hour.
Peterborough’s Great Eastern Run was called off just minutes before it was due to start on Sunday after reports of a man acting “suspiciously” near the route.
Hundreds of runners were at the start line gearing up for the half marathon when a public announcement revealed it had been cancelled at the last minute.
Armed police officers were called in to investigate but found the witness who raised the alarm had “misinterpreted what was seen”.
Cambridgeshire Constabulary said: “We take all calls extremely seriously, even more so in light of recent events across the country, and as a result a major firearms response was launched.
“Following a comprehensive investigation, it is believed that the witness was acting in good faith but has misinterpreted what was seen.”
Organisers of the event apologised for the event being cancelled and thanked participants for their patience.
Race director Jon Marsden said: “We are really disappointed that we had to cancel the event and we apologise to all of the people that had booked their run with us today.
“Unfortunately an incident occurred around 20 minutes before the start of the half marathon where the police were concerned about the behaviour of an individual on the course at that particular time that required investigation.
“Because of the time it took to do that we then had to consider the issues around the runners who were waiting who were starting to suffer from hypothermia and the road closures, as we had guaranteed that we would reopen these roads by 2pm.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments