Brighton Marathon organisers in storm over unpaid prize money and refunds
Organisers of the Brighton Marathon have failed to fully pay prize money from races dating back more than a year – despite repeated requests from exasperated runners. Grounded Events, which organises the Brighton Marathon, have also been taken to the small claims' court after failing to pay refunds after another race, the Ragnar Relay Series, was cancelled.
Meanwhile many of those who have raised concerns on social media have subsequently found themselves blocked.
The story came to light after the winner of this year’s race, Alix Ramsier, took to social media to explain he was still waiting for his £2,000 price money. It quickly emerged that he was not alone, with some runners saying that they were still awaiting their prizes from September 2021.
“I genuinely didn’t know there were prizes until a couple of days before,” Ramsier told Runner’s World. “Obviously it’s an incredible feeling to win the race, and as I finished there was a lady interviewing, just over their Tannoy, and she asked me “How do you feel, you’ve won £2,000?”
Ramsier said that he received an email from Grounded Events asking for his bank details, but nothing happened after he supplied them. After initially being reassured by email that it would be dealt with soon, he still didn't receive any money.
“Probably a month or so went by, and so I thought, something doesn't feel right. So I've emailed them asking what’s going on. And nothing. Radio silence.
“Eventually I realised it had been 160 days since the marathon, and no one’s got in touch with me.”
In exasperation Ramsier took to Instagram as a last resort. “I think taking to social media is a shame and sometimes a low blow but in today's world and after so many ignored emails it's probably the only way forward,” he wrote in his post.
The Brighton Marathon is one of the highlights of the spring racing calendar, with around 12,000 athletes taking part. However it has had a somewhat troubled history in recent years. In 2020 it was cancelled due to Covid, while organisers had to apologise in 2021 after it was revealed that the course was 568 metres too long. Now, though, it is facing further damage to its reputation.
Ramsier is not alone. Ronny Wilson, who won the 10K race in 2022, shared a formal letter he sent threatening legal action after waiting for his prize. He said he was then paid within a few days.
Yesterday Ramsier and other prize winners received an email from Grounded Events, which is over £1.2 million in debt, according to accounts filed with Companies House in April this year. This compares with debts of £1.6 million in 2020, and £827,943 in 2019 and £725,909 in 2018.
It said: “We are doing all that we can to continue to process payments whilst the events industry bounces back.”
“We sincerely apologise for a lack of communication recently and recognise that we could have done more to update you on the difficulties and challenges the business is facing.
“We’re extremely disappointed that we’ve not yet processed all the outstanding payments owed and are sorry for any distress that this may have caused.
“We understand just how frustrating this is, but we want to reassure all of those who are owed money that we still fully intend to make the remaining payments as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile it has also emerged that Grounded Events had also failed to process promised refunds to runners from the cancelled Ragnar Events Series – with some subsequently taking the company to the small claims’ court.
One intended participant, Jon Binney, told Runner’s World of his difficulties with getting money back from Ragnar Relay, which was also managed by Grounded Events.
“In 2020 and again in 2021 the race got cancelled, so we asked for a full refund – which they offered – of £840. We were told it wouldn’t be processed until June or when the event would have happened. So in June, I emailed again asking when we would get it. I’ve got emails from June, July, August, it got to the point I was emailing every day…but no replies at all.
“I did make a civil money claim on 21 September,” he added. “They have 10 October to reply. I have heard that people have been paid back after doing that.
“It breaks my heart a little bit to do this, as the Brighton Marathon weekend is fantastic and it would be a huge blow to lose it. But it's the lack of honesty, as well as being ignored, which is hard to stomach.”
In a response, Grounded Events said: “The team behind the event is small & very hardworking. Circumstances in the events industry – financial & logistical – for those events of a certain scale, are incredibly challenging. It is our intention to pay all monies owed and actions are being taken to achieve this.”
The statement also blamed the pandemic for the current problems, though many on social media noted issues prior to 2020 and the debts from company accounts in those years. Many runners were also upset to discover after the 2021 race that the company had not acquired a UK Athletics licence. This is not an obligation for races in the UK, but it does mean that runners cannot officially use their times from such races as qualifying marks for other races – for example, Good for Age or Championship times for London Marathon.
“Over the past two years the running events industry has been blighted by the hangover from Covid-19,” said the statement. “Brighton Marathon was hit hard by the pandemic, and we were forced to postpone our 2020 and 2021 events – resulting in a significant drop in revenue. Unlike other sectors, we did not qualify for government support and since restrictions have been lifted participant numbers have still not recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
“As we recover and work towards a 2023 event, we are acutely aware of the payments owed. We understand the frustrations of those impacted and would like to reiterate our sincere apologies.
“Our leadership team is in contact with all impacted individuals to explain the context of this situation and to underline our commitment to honouring our payments at the earliest opportunity.”
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