HALF marathon runners were left high and dry - and out of pocket - after no event organisers turned up.
Abbi Lawrence, from the Hythe in Colchester, signed up for a half marathon race from Colchester to Brightlingsea which was meant to take place on Sunday.
Abbi paid £31.50 for her ticket from the Brightlingsea-based Eveson Row and Co in November through Eventbrite and received a confirmation email on Friday.
Abbi said she was also aware that one runner signed up as late as April 8.
She said: “People had organised childcare and arranged lifts to pick them up from the end of the race.
“Somebody’s wife offered to buy some water bottles to put halfway as it was meant to be a supported race with water stops.”
When she checked the company’s Instagram page on Sunday, there were posts which included photographs from the past two years’ half-marathons.
However, all the posts were later deleted.
Abbi said: “I did check before I signed up to see if it was a new race or if it had been run before just because I am aware of scams.
“I was aware that this was the third year of the race so felt confident in signing up.
“It’s just upsetting as the company clearly hasn’t been trading for months and they could have easily cancelled the event to stop more runners signing up.”
Abbi added: “It makes me wary of signing up to small races in the future, whereas I like to try and support smaller events.
“Obviously it was a real let down that the event didn’t happen as a race.
“It’s a beautiful route.”
The Gazette tried to contact Eveson Row and Co for comment, but our emails bounced back.
A spokesman for Eventbrite said the organiser of the event did not inform Eventbrite that it was cancelled and that organisers are "required to issue refunds when an event is cancelled".
The spokesman said ticket holders who are unable to get a refund directly from the organiser can submit a refund request directly to Eventbrite for review here.
