A Glasgow trail race was thrown into chaos over the weekend when a prankster posing as a marshal sent dozens of runners on a kilometres-long detour.
The incident at the Acorn Trails event saw more than a quarter of the 115 participants diverted onto a 2.5km detour after a woman impersonating event staff interfered with the course.
The woman directed runners towards Linn Park Bridge from an unmanned section of the course, while also burying directional arrow signs which marked the correct route.
Race organisers Alex Osborne and Michelle Sinsheimer said it was difficult to dismiss the incident as a mere prank, given the potential risks to participants.
More than a quarter of the race's 115 participants were diverted onto a 2.5km detour
ACORN TRAILS
The "mischievous" interference diverted runners away from crucial support facilities - and though none needed them, race bosses were not impressed.
"It's hard to laugh off the incident when you consider the possible implications had things not panned out as lightly as they did," Osborne told Sky News.
"There's a fine line between it being a humorous prank and an incident had one of the runners, not all of whom were local, got more lost when their warm clothing, refreshments and first aid were at the finish line."
The near 10k race takes place at Linn Park, starting and finishing at the old golf clubhouse, with runners completing two laps of Castlemilk Woodland.
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A saboteur, thought to be female, hid a number of crucial signs along a woodland stretch of the race
ACORN TRAILS
Acorn Trails has previously held multiple successful events at the park, including at least three races around the woodland.
Organisers have offered affected participants a 50 per cent discount on their next race entry as compensation for the disruption.
"We target spots where we think runners might get lost and where they appreciate the vocal support our amazing hi-vis heroes provide," Osborne said.
The organisers rely on volunteers and can only deploy marshals based on available numbers.
And Osborne added: "We've never had issues before. Maybe the odd sign tossed into a hedge, but never a course alteration or pretending to be part of the event staff," he said.
"It's not practical to have marshals in the place of every arrow sign as that would require a huge volume of people," he added.
A later social media post from Acorn Trails vowed: "Each arrow will be assigned a marshal to take care of it, and a photographer to record any issues... Hopefully that will stop the pesky saboteurs!"
