The West Coast’s annual 42-kilometre Edge-to-Edge Marathon will not be run in 2017.
The event’s relay race has also been cancelled.
Edge-to-Edge is organized and hosted by Ucluelet’s chamber of commerce and board member Suzanne Ryles announced the removal of both races from this year’s event during the chamber’s annual general meeting on Sunday.
“This year we have decided to not do the full-marathon and to not do the relay race either,” she said.
The 42-kilometre race course has been an oft-tinkered-with work in progress since race organizers nixed Tofino from the course in 2014.
Last year’s Edge to Edge event took some criticism from a handful of half-marathoners who suggested the course was unclear, in particular a section that runners were supposed to run twice but some ran just once.
“We, last year, had some comments that were not the greatest feedback on the course and the double loop people had to do,” Ryles said adding the chamber is cutting down the amount of races in order to focus on each one.
The half-marathon will remain part of the event as will a 10-kilometre option, with both featuring the Wild Pacific Trail. A five-kilometre family-friendly race will be a new addition to 2017’s event.
Ryles said runners are being informed that the full marathon and relay race would likely return once the Pacific Rim National Park completes the 22-kilometre path it’s currently constructing.