Hellebuyck, Smith Win Goofy Race

An entire field, 2,200 runners, went left instead of right Sunday at the first Disneyland Marathon, slicing roughly half a mile between Miles One and Two and sending organizers scrambling.

Officials quickly measured the missed distance, added it after the 25-mile mark, and Eddy Hellebuyck, a Belgian living in Albuquerque, N.M., ran the 26 miles 385 yards in 2 hours 19 minutes 46 seconds to win the event and $5,000.

Kathy Smith of Aliso Viejo was the women’s winner in 2:44:51.

Every mile marker along the course after the first was off, confusing leaders and back-of-the-pack runners alike. “I know what happened, but I don’t know why it happened,” race director John Mansoor said. “We noticed it right away. I think the athletes would have known right away. They weren’t aware of when we were going to add the extra distance.”

Mansoor said the lead runners were led astray by a group of escorts on bicycles.

Hellebuyck said his plan was simply to stay at the front of the pack wherever it went, then kick for the finish line. He beat Toshinobu Sato of Japan, by four seconds.