Organizer of charity marathon accused of running off with more than $130,000

By Ashley Pemberton via SWNS

The chief organizer of a town marathon set to raise cash for a local charity has 'vanished' after runners paid more than £100,000 ($130,547.93) to take part in the event.

Colleagues of former Royal Marine Richard Smith - organizer of the Bolton Marathon - have said they have not heard from him for "five months."

More than 1,400 runners had paid between £55 ($71.79) and £75 ($97.90) to take part in the run on May 15 which is now looking doubtful.

And today (April 8) it emerged that Mr. Smith, 36, had not been in contact with council chiefs to finalize plans for the event.

Runners say they have not heard from him since last August and Bolton Hospice - which was due to benefit from the funds raised - hasn't received a penny.

Mr. Smith set up a company - The Bolton Marathon Ltd - to revive the run that had been defunct since the 1980s.

It was postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but he assured runners it would take place this year.

However, nobody has been able to contact him for months and he previously said he deleted his social media over concerns for his own mental health.

Race ambassador Mark Nixon said he failed to hear from Mr. Smith for around year until November 2021, when he assured him the race was still going ahead.

He said: “Prior to the virus forcing the marathon to rightly be canceled and rescheduled, Richard was always very hands-on and enthusiastic.

“November 26 last year was the first time we had heard from him in over 12 months.

“He said COVID-19 had produced some issues he was dealing with, but nothing he couldn’t ‘fix’. He was taking this on as a one-man band.

“There’s a lot of heated anger around the marathon now, he’s not communicated with the runners directly since last August.

"Sadly, us ambassadors who people recognize as being involved have had awful abuse, calling us frauds and whatnot despite us only trying to help Richard, who has gone AWOL.

“People parted with significant money not just to run, but for t-shirts, hoodies, all sorts of mementos that it looks like they will never receive. It’s not on.

“He said he had to get personal revenue for the money lost during COVID-19 due to job worries, and he came off social media to protect his own mental health.

“What about everyone else’s mental health? The people getting the abuse? The people who have lost money? He hasn’t thought about that, it seems.

“All of the outstanding money should be donated to Bolton Hospice, whatever is left, that’s the right thing to do.”

In December, Mr. Smith told the local newspaper: “Nothing has changed and the marathon is still going ahead next year.

“I know I should have updated everyone, but I have been taking a break from social media for personal reasons, and most of my time has been taken up by a new job.

“I am working really hard in my spare time to put the marathon on for next year.

“I have no interest in making money from the marathon, I want to give back to the local community, which is why I needed to support myself in another job.”

But Bolton Council said it would need six months' notice to prepare for a marathon and that as far as it was concerned, the event was not going ahead as he had not been in touch.

Conservative Heaton and Lostock councilor Andrew Morgan responded to concerns on social media by saying: “We were aware of plans by a private event organizer to stage the Bolton Marathon in May 2020, but this was postponed by the event organizer.

“We were then made aware of a provisional plan to stage the event in 2021 but again this was postponed by the event organizer.

“Both postponements were fully justifiable due to the pandemic.

“At the time of the 2021 postponement, the event organizer suggested he may try to stage the event this year but we have had no correspondence from the event organizer regarding this.

“Timescales for the staging of major events in Bolton, including engaging with the Safety Advisory Group require at least six months minimum lead-in time."

Alice Atkinson, director of income and generation at Bolton Hospice, said: “We understand that there is great disappointment amongst those who have signed up and paid for places for the event yet to take place, and hope for a resolution for them soon."

Mr. Smith has been contacted for comment.