Mekong Posted November 17, 2015 Report Share Posted November 17, 2015 An error by race organisers has turned Bangkok into the home of the world’s longest half-marathon. Instead of a 13-mile run through Thailand’s capital, the Standard Chartered Bangkok marathon on Sunday accidentally extended its annual half-marathon to almost 17 miles. The bonus miles came as a surprise to runners, who unleashed a tirade of complaints on social media after the event. The Jogging Association of Thailand one of two organisers of the race, admitted to the error on Monday. “The association apologises for the mistake,†Songrakm Kraison, its vice-president, told the Associated Press. “It will not happen again in the future.†The Athletic Association of Thailand, which oversees athletic events in the country, said it discussed the mistake with the organisers, who “admitted that a technical error happened during the half-marathon eventâ€, said Surapong Ariyamongkol, AAT secretary general. He said race officials responsible for pointing runners in the right direction inadvertently directed them to make a U-turn at the wrong place. “It added more than 3km [1.8 miles] to each lap, therefore more than 6km were added to the whole half-marathon,†Surapong said. “We have rebuked the association but we could not do anything else.†The marathon’s Facebook page filled with comments on Sunday and Monday from runners who described the error as “ridiculousâ€, a “massive miscalculation†and “incredibly dangerous†for runners who had trained to run just 13 miles. Others joked that it should be renamed the “super half-marathonâ€, or as one Facebook comment noted, it could be seen as a byproduct of race inflation: “Hey, they increased the price this year, so you get more kilometres for your money.†http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/16/bangkok-half-marathon-worlds-longest-u-turn-17-mile-race 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelgianBoy Posted November 17, 2015 Report Share Posted November 17, 2015 TIT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted November 17, 2015 Report Share Posted November 17, 2015 They propose shortening it next year to make up for it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiery Jack Posted December 4, 2015 Report Share Posted December 4, 2015 I was asked to do a charity half-marathon. Of course, I immediately declined. Then the bloke said, "But it's for disabled kids." I thought, "Wait a minute — I could win this!" jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavanami Posted December 11, 2015 Report Share Posted December 11, 2015 The Thais can and regularly fark up cornflakes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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