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SOUTH SALT LAKE -- The Salt Lake City Marathon is just over a week away, but a lot is going to have to come together before South Salt Lake allows runners to hit its pavement.
Nearly 2 miles of the marathon route runs through the city, or it's supposed to if the South Salt Lake Police Department gets paid.
"We had a deadline that came and passed on April 6th with no explanation why," said South Salt Lake Police Chief Chris Snyder. "I'm willing to be flexible, but at some point I need to call this either way."
Snyder's department has always patrolled the route for free, but times have changed. Instead of taxpayers covering the cost, the department is charging $15,000 to the race's organizer.
"I've got more than half my police department workforce in standby mode, wondering if they have to come in on their day off," Snyder said.
Devine Racing is the company that owes them the money. In fact, they owe a lot of people money, including the winner of last year's marathon.
Company owner Christopher Devine told KSL on Tuesday that the marathon will go on. "We have done everything we can to insulate the Salt Lake Market. It is my baby, my love," he said.
But here's another problem: no one has applied for a permit to hold the race in South Salt Lake yet. "It may have been assumed, because it happens every year, that there aren't going to be issues, but we still have certain policies in place," Snyder said.
We went to race director Scott Kerr for answers. "We've been dealing with course changes down to the wire," he told us.
Kerr says the new course was just approved about a week ago, and though late, he says the permit to South Salt Lake has been submitted. "It's come down to wire, but everything is going to be fine," he said.
Snyder hopes so too, and he also hopes he gets paid by April 18. He has been told he will be paid the $15,000 by Friday.
Also, the course has changed slightly this year, but the new route has not been posted on the Salt Lake Marathon Web site yet.
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Story compiled with contributions from Amanda Butterfield and Marc Giauque.
