DAVENPORT, Iowa — Editor's Note: A previous version of this story said the train was crossing "Gain Street." This information is inaccurate as the train crossed Gaines Street. It has been corrected.
Update: Canadian Pacific Railway has the following statement on its website regarding community events.
"Due to operational requirements and capacity constraints, CP is unable to slow or stop trains for public events such as parades, community festivals and races."
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More than 4,000 runners pounded the pavement at the 26th Quad Cities Marathon, but roughly 200 of them got a lengthy break in the middle of it. Numerous participants experienced a delay as they waited for a train to cross the tracks on Gaines Street in Davenport near Modern Woodman Park.
"What happened was what we were afraid would happen, and that is a train would come," race director Joe Moreno said.
Moreno says his team communicates with Canadian Pacific Railway every year about when the trains need to be delayed for the marathon.
"It's very frustrating," Moreno said. "It just puts a blemish and cloud over the great success we had yesterday. It was a wonderful day. It didn't rain on us, everybody had a good time, everything was well organized. I'm so proud of our team, but yet this happens and that is something we can't control. We have no control over the railroad trains...what we can control, we handled it with precision."
That precision Joe's referring to is the time tracking mats they had in place to adjust people's times accordingly. They were prepared since this was the second time this happened at the marathon.
"We know exactly how many people were affected, we were ready to make the adjustments," Moreno said. "We're looking into that right now. By the end of the day, we should have those results adjusted."
One runner, Holly Sparkman, emailed News 8 today saying her time was adjusted properly after she was delayed a couple of minutes. She says race officials were writing down bib numbers of all 200 runners impacted.
"I just hope that people understand that we did everything we could," Moreno said. "We have no control over the train schedules."
The train tracks are located at mile seven for the half marathon and mile 17 for the full marathon. Moreno talked about how it's frustrating, not only because they have to adjust the times, but this delay can really impact a runner's rhythm while racing. He said it's like starting the race all over.
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