The organisers of last month's Newport Marathon have apologised to runners after admitting the course was too long.

Race organisers, Run 4 Wales, said the route, was 276m too long which equates to 0.171 miles.

The organisers said there was an "error with the course measurement."

Newport Marathon took place on Sunday April 28 along with a new half marathon race and 10K events.

There were no issues with the half marathon or 10K course measurements.

A spokesperson for Run 4 Wales said: "We’ve been looking into reports around the accuracy of the Marathon course distance at the Newport Marathon Festival on Sunday, April 28.

"This issue has been taken very seriously and we have been having an ongoing dialogue with the Course Measurer/Association of UK Course Measurers (AUKCM).

"Unfortunately, the AUKCM has concluded that there was an error with their course measurement, resulting in the Marathon being 276m too long, which equates to 0.171 miles."

With a number of runners taking part in the Newport Marathon as preparation for other events, including to log qualifying times that would make them eligible for future marathons, organisers say that contingency plans have been put in place to ensure that those who finished the race do not suffer as a result.

The spokesperson added: "Run 4 Wales is disappointed that this has happened at one of its events and understands and apologies unreservedly to those impacted, particularly those aiming for good for age qualifying times.

"For this reason, we have been working with London Marathon Events who have agreed that times will be amended for those applying for a Good for Age entry at the London Marathon, should the athlete have been affected in gaining a place.

"An equivalent number of seconds will be removed from the finish times of those applying for a Good for Age entry. For example,  a 3-hour finish time would be corrected approximately by 70 seconds, a 3½-hour finish time would be corrected by 82 seconds and a 4-hour finish time would be corrected by 94 seconds. This will be done automatically via the London Marathon system when applying.

"The AUKCM can confirm there were no issues with their half marathon or 10K course measurements."