THE organiser of a half marathon in Belfast has defended the event, insisting all safety measures were in place and criticising the conduct of some runners.
Governing body Athletics NI has said it will investigate complaints from unhappy participants in Sunday's Belfast Titanic Half Marathon.
Many runners took to social media to voice frustration at the organisation of the event, citing concerns over a delay to the start time, poor route marking and roads being open to traffic.
There were also complaints that water supplies ran out, about insufficient toilet facilities, marshalling and first aid, and even that the race fell short of the half-marathon distance.
One woman said she injured her knee but was unable to get it checked out during the race.
In a statement, Athletics NI said it "completely disheartens us" that the event "has not been fulfilled to the utmost highest standards to make this an enjoyable race for both runners and marshals".
It is the second time this year that a race held in the Titanic area by Endurance Junkie has come in for criticism.
However, organiser William Anderson last night said that while he accepted "there were challenges", he rejected any suggestion that people were put at risk.
"We had Harbour Police, we had St John’s Ambulance, we had stewards, we had water in place," he said.
Mr Anderson admitted there had been problems with medals and the PA system, and that the start of the event was delayed.
"We got a call last week from our supplier to say that our medals were on the way to Australia. We got a plaque organised quite quickly. The medals are being tracked as we speak.
"My PA system broke just before the event. I spoke to people and told them that roads were not closed. Traffic was coming and people knew to get to the side of the road. There is no legislation in Northern Ireland which allows roads to be closed."
The personal trainer told The Irish News that "on a scale of 1 to 10 I would give the race between 6.5 and 7."
"We provided that event effectively. We ran out of water, yes. Other races run out of water. It happens. We had oranges organised for people at the finish line."
He added: "£27.50 was the entry fee, yes, and if you don’t want to pay it, don’t pay it. This is a business."
Asked why a Facebook page and website connected to the event had been shut down, Mr Anderson said it was "so that we couldn’t be attacked".
"We had people contacting my child on Facebook in the hours after the event and giving her stick."
He added: "We got reports of runners running about all over the road during the race. Who does that?"
Endurance Junkie has several other races planned for the remainder of 2015, including an Electric Glow Run for Stormont Estate in October and Derry in November, although prospective participants were unable to register online for races yesterday.
Mr Anderson declined to be drawn on whether those runs would go ahead as planned, saying simply: "I am focusing on this race at the moment."
