ABOVE: Photo by Amazing Field
It looks like the Standard Chartered Bangkok Marathon organisers may have taken the phrase “going the distance” a bit too much to heart this year.
Tired and angry runners have lashed out after the running event accidentally managed to add an extra 8km onto one of the courses.
The athletes bombarded the Facebook page of the organisers after it was discovered that the half marathon route on Sunday had somehow been extended from the usual 21.1km to 29km.
Many complained of being demoralised and put at risk of injury by the organisers, Amazing Field and National Jogging Association of Thailand, and vowed not to return to the race.
Gillian Sugiyama said: “It is so demoralising to find out that you still have another 13km to run, when you think it should only be about 5. Could my treadmill have been so wrong, could I be going insane, no…just the incompetence of a Thai company who would rather “save face” than issue an apology to the thousands of people who trained so hard for so long for 21km. It is disgraceful and inconceivable that this race could go so wrong.”
David Paul Nicholson said: “I am utterly disgusted that a marathon that prides itself and markets itself as one of the best in South East Asia, cannot get the distance right. I feel sorry for those first time guys who have trained for months for a particular finish time and then to have this happen to them. Needless to say I will vote with my feet and never again participate in this joke of an event.”
Simon Stewart said: “Disgraceful turn of events, dangerous for those who were running without the aid of a GPS. The organisers should be ashamed of themselves…I have only anger for the organisers who still have not responded to this error and put lives in danger.”
It was unclear how the mistake had occurred, although some speculated it was due to incorrect positioning of the turnaround point.
Other commentators tried to make light of the situation.
” U deposit 21k they return you 28k. Good deal!” said user Baloo Hulla.
Matthew H Benton commented: “Hey, they increased the price this year, so you get more kilometers for your money!”
The half marathon course had run into controversy before, when it ran short in 2013 by about 2km due to street protests, reported Asian Correspondent.
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