Runners left in dust after 49ers marathon event cancelled

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- It promised to be an exciting event -- the 49ers Half Marathon, was to start at Great America and end on the football field at Levi's Stadium. So when it all went sideways, a lot of people called 7 On Your Side for help.

"Some of us from work got together and signed up for the race," Vikki Norton said.

She and three co-workers started training right away, imagining the crowds cheering as they crossed the finish line inside the stadium.

"You know how the football players come out through the line? That kind of that feeling, I imagined," San Mateo resident Toshiko Lim said.

Superhero Events promised red and gold t-shirts, football medals, runners' names lit up on the big screen.

"I would meet with the running group every Saturday," San Jose resident Juliya Alvarez said.

The co-workers started training right away and then, there was a big letdown.

"We all started receiving emails that the event wasn't going to be able to end inside the stadium," Norton said.

The 49ers had pulled their name off the event. It became the Santa Clara Half Marathon and it would end in a parking lot instead of the field.

"Just a bit of a disappointment," Lim said.

But then a month later, the race was cancelled altogether. Hundreds of racers had already paid the $111 registration fee. Superhero promised a full refund, but getting it was the real marathon.

"I started emailing them, no response," said San Jose resident Jayne Matsuda.

"We'll get you your money in six to eight weeks," Alvarez explained. "And then we haven't heard from them in months."

"We all kind of started scratching our heads, like nobody's received their refund," Norton said.

We contacted the promoter and the 49ers. Turns out they disagree about what went wrong.

Superhero told 7 On Your Side, "A verbal agreement was in place and a written version was being drawn up" to include the 49ers.

The promoter shared an email from a 49ers staffer about possible dates and terms.

However, the 49ers say there never was any agreement. 49ers spokesperson Bob Lange said by phone: "Someone on our events staff had a preliminary meeting with local groups to talk about a marathon. This group completely took it as if it was happening. We chalked it up to them being overzealous. We had to tell them, 'We're not going to partner with you and stop using our logo.'"

Which left our runners in the dust -- however, soon after our calls, there was reason to cheer since the runners got their refunds.

Superhero Events says everyone else should have their refunds by now too. If you didn't get yours, contact me here.