The long run: Bangkok Marathon organizers’ blooper adds 4 miles to route
An organizational error at the Bangkok half-marathon has turned a relatively harmless 13-mile (21km) run into 17-miles, making it the longest ‘half-marathon’ on record. The blunder led to a massive outcry from the runners.
One of the organizers of the Standard Chartered Marathon, the Jogging Association of Thailand, accidentally put a U-turn on the map, extending the race greatly. “The association apologizes for the mistake,” Songrakm Kraison, the vice-president, was cited by the AP as saying. “It will not happen again in the future.”
Love this! Too funny: Bangkok half-#marathon accidentally adds 4 miles to route https://t.co/Jrcy91IbpYpic.twitter.com/nRDKpSxlfv
— Noel Paine (@NoelPaine) November 16, 2015
The mistake “added more than 3km (1.8 miles) to each lap, therefore more than 6km were added to the whole half-marathon,” Surapong Ariyamongkol, secretary general of the Athletic Association of Thailand, said. The body oversees the event. “We have rebuked the association, but we could not do anything else.”
There was a flurry of Facebook disappointment on the event’s page as well, with many calling the gaffe “a massive miscalculation,” with others jokingly pitching “super half-marathon” as a new name for the event.
#Bangkok half-#marathon accidentally adds 4 miles to route
Read More : https://t.co/AZM8ksC4UApic.twitter.com/bsv4MuEXzt
— New Straits Times (@NST_Online) November 16, 2015
Many people lashed out at Standard Chartered Bank, believing the sponsor should share responsibility for the blunder.