Edmonton Marathon Organizers Admit to Botching Course Measurement, and Also to Accidentally Killing a Guy Back in the ’80s, Panicking, and Burying Him in a Shallow Grave
/
In a shocking development, organizers of the Edmonton Marathon admitted today that they accidentally killed a man decades ago and buried his body in a remote wooded area.
The announcement comes one week after those same officials acknowledged that the course for the 2026 marathon was 674.7 meters too long—an admission instantly overshadowed by the more recent one.
“In the spirit of transparency and, frankly, just getting this off our chest, the Edmonton Marathon would like to follow our mea culpa about this year’s course length with another one,” the organizers wrote in an online statement. “Back in the ’80s, we killed some guy, a stranger, and buried him in a shallow grave.”
“We won’t get into the details, but do want to stress that this death was purely unintentional, an accident,” they added, offering no clues regarding the victim’s identity. “And to be honest, we freaked out. After a brief discussion, we decided to hide the body someplace where no one would ever find it.”
That place is thought to be a densely wooded area northwest of Edmonton, though Dumb Runner was not able to independently verify that.
The statement, which has been shared widely, struck a remorseful tone. But it also painted the race organizers in a sympathetic light.
“We were young and stupid and, yeah, we’d had a little to drink [the night of the death],” it read. “Who among us, in those circumstances, hasn’t done something regrettable?”
It remains unclear what, if any, legal repercussions the marathon might now face; as some commenters have pointed out, Canada does not have a statute of limitations for serious crimes like homicide. But if race organizers are worried about that, their statement didn’t reflect it.
“We own this error,” the statement concluded. “And we pledge to learn from our mistake to ensure that it never happens again.”
