Scott Radley: Wrong turn costs runner Around the Bay crown

Ryan Tyrrell was zipping along York Boulevard with a big lead and just 500 metres to go before he'd enter FirstOntario Centre and be crowned king of the Around the Bay five-kilometre race.

Which is when he turned right onto Queen Street and started heading south.

Wait, he did what?

It wasn't until I got to the next street where there's traffic and cars and I was like, OK, this definitely isn't right,'" the 24-year-old says.

The annual event has been held since 1894. What happened Sunday was one of the stranger moments it's ever seen.

The 5K route starts at FirstOntario Centre, goes up Bay Street to Cannon Street, hangs a left to York Boulevard, continues to the bridge by the cemetery and then turns back and heads home in a straight shot along York to the finish line inside the arena. Sounds simple.

The former member of McMaster's track team has run it before. He's looked at the map. Maybe not as much as usual this time since he only decided to compete a couple days before because he's been recovering from an Achilles injury. Regardless, Tyrrell was in terrific form and on pace for a sub-15-minute finish.

I felt incredible," he says.

Problem was, because of the injury, the last place he expected to be was in the lead. He figured he'd be running in a pack. Instead, the only thing in front of him was a pace car. When that vehicle got to Queen Street, it hung a right.

According to race director, Anna Lewis, this was so it wouldn't get in the way near the finish where there's fencing and lots of fans. The runners could take it from this point.

That was the plan, anyway.

Tyrrell thought the finish was straight ahead but his guide had just turned. Remembering he had to eventually veer right - runners entering the rink take a right into the loading bay entrance - he figured maybe the course had been adjusted a bit.

So he made the split-second decision to follow.

In the moment, you're not really thinking about where you're going," he says. You're kind of focused on running as hard as you can."

Almost immediately he had doubts. But when he looked over his shoulder after a few seconds and saw some other runners were following him, he relaxed.

Nathan Dehghan was one of those. So was Lukas Vadeika. They were in second and third respectively. They saw the car and Tyrrell turn so they did, too. As did a few others behind them.

If you're thinking, geez, these guys aren't very bright, you'd be wrong. Tyrrell is a research engineer at Mac after graduating with a degree in mechatronics and management. Dehghan is an elementary school teacher. Vadeika's in his second year of software engineering at McMaster where he runs for the school. But stuff happens.

By the time a police officer at the intersection radio'd someone to get some clarity about the route, Tyrrell had almost reached King Street. Any elite runner will tell you there's no course on the planet that requires you to dance through whizzing traffic like you're playing a live game of Frogger.

So I turned back," he says.

As this was going on, Aaron De Jong - who'd been running a bit behind the leaders - was thinking the crowds were cheering unusually loudly for him as he approached the arena. As he entered the building, he heard his name being announced over the PA. Then he noticed the tape across the finish was still up.

He was in first?

I was a little confused," he says.

The 26-year-old pharmaceutical consultant says it took him a few minutes to figure out what just happened. Later that night on a local runners' chat board, the new champion received some tongue-in-cheek compliments about his map-reading skills.

But as he was walking out of the arena carrying his giant winner's trophy, some people stopped him to ask if he'd won the race.

Well," he said, kind of."

That's not fair. He crossed the line first. He won. Though he humbly says there's zero per cent chance" that happens without the unusual circumstances.

Tyrrell's 5K time was about a minute faster. But he ended up running six kilometres and finishing 16th. Vadeika finished one spot ahead of him and Dehghan, one place behind. All three are having a chuckle about it now, and getting some ribbing from friends and other runners.

Lewis says this has never happened before in all the years she's been involved. Still, next year there will likely be a marshal at the spot the car has to peel off just to be sure there's no confusion.

As for Tyrrell, no, this hasn't happened to him in any race before. But he's seen it.

In all those previous times I'm like, how do you manage to do that? Like, how do you take a wrong turn?" he says. I have a lot more sympathy for them now."

Scott Radley is a Hamilton-based columnist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sradley@thespec.com