Sometimes success can complicate life. It certainly can complicate an event like the Pikes Peak Marathon and Pikes Peak Ascent.

The success of past races – this is the 57th year – and increases in prize money have led organizers to increase scrutiny of runners this year in an attempt to ensure a fair race.

Pikes Peak Marathon Inc. announced Friday a three-member jury of appeals is ready to handle any race-day issues involving this year’s competition, and race director Ron Ilgen said there also will be additional course marshals at this year’s event.

“We’re going to make sure the rules, the regulations, the course, everything is very well-publicized and very well-known to everyone,” Ilgen said. “We don’t want any confusion of course cutting – the trail will be marked better than ever.”

Increases in prize money announced earlier this summer are expected to draw a more competitive field of runners than in years past. A top runner competing in this year’s Ascent and Marathon could win as much as $54,000.

There have been few allegations of serious misconduct at the races, Ilgen said, but organizers prefer to err on the side of caution. The last serious infraction occurred in 2004, he said, when a foreign runner cut the course. The Marathon was added to the Skyrunner World Series calendar that year, a group of major races held around the world. It remains part of that race series.

“The rules aren’t always the same in other countries as here,” Ilgen said. “Some of those races, they’re point to point, runners cut trails. They just have a different understanding.”

The runners guide for the Pikes Peak Ascent and the Pikes Peak Marathon, available to all entrants, clearly states these are trail events, and Ilgen said every effort will be made to ensure all competitors understand the course.

That is one reason for the additional trail markings and course marshals as well as the jury of appeals, he said. In addition to Ilgen, the jury consists of distance runner Nancy Hobbs, founder of the American Trail Running Association, and Pikes Peak Marathon board member Bob Street. The jury will handle issues such as claims of course cutting or unsportsmanlike conduct and any disagreements over the awarding of prize money.

“Even though rules and regulations at the Pikes Peak events are very specific, there is always a chance that runners misinterpret them,” Ilgen said in a news statement released Friday. “We want to provide a forum whereby any course infractions can be reviewed and considered thoughtfully and thoroughly before a runner is disqualified from the event.”

The decision to add a jury was sparked by a controversy at the Speedgoat 50K mountain race in July in Utah in which a top runner reportedly cut the course, Ilgen said. That race did not have a jury, which left the race director to decide whether the runner would be disqualified.

The Pikes Peak Ascent, which takes runners from downtown Manitou Springs to the top of Pikes Peak, is Aug. 18. The Pikes Peak Marathon, which takes runners from downtown Manitou Springs to the summit and back again, is Aug. 19.

Spectators can meet runners, including elite athletes, at a free reception at 1 p.m. Aug. 16 at Manitou Springs City Hal1, 606 W. Manitou Ave. A race expo opens at 9 a.m. Aug. 17 at adjacent Memorial Park in Manitou Springs.

Spectators are welcome to cheer runners at the start and finish of the races, as well as along the course as long as they yield to competitors.