A man in his 50s allegedly chain-smoked as he ran an entire marathon in China, according to media reports, and apparently completed the event in three hours and 33 minutes.
For his lung-busting efforts and smoking in the competition on Jan 7 at the C&D Xiamen Marathon 2024, he is facing a two-year ban from races organised by Xiamen Marathon’s organising committee.
The smoker, whose surname is Chen, will also be reported to the Chinese Athletics Association for additional penalties, according to a Chinese-language notice dated Jan 12 issued by the competition department of the committee.
Xiamen Marathon’s statement also said its organising committee verified Mr Chen’s smoking based on “race supervision, referee reports, timing chip data, race videos, pictures and other materials”.
Mr Chen’s marathon timing and ranking were not provided by the committee and were voided. But the website Canadian Running said his timing was three hours 33 minutes.
This was not the first time that Mr Chen puffed while running a marathon. Media reports stated he smoked while taking part in the Xin’anjiang marathon at Jiande in Zhejiang province in November 2022.
He completed that race in three hours 28 minutes, and placed 574th out of more than 1,500 runners. His feat and smoking were widely reported by media outlets such as Canadian Running, HuffPost and Sky News.
Photographs of Mr Chen smoking were circulated on social media.
Xiamen Marathon’s website listed “(punishable) uncivil behaviours” such as “open defecation, smoking, littering, trampling on the flowers and grass and other behaviours that might affect other runners”.
According to media publication Sixth Tone, other Chinese cities have started to act against smoking during marathons. Hangzhou and Guangzhou have rules to curb “uncivilised behaviour”, but did not specifically ban smoking.
Running event organisers in Singapore told The Straits Times that runners like Mr Chen are rare.
The Ironman Group, which organises the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon, said: “Our runners are generally civic-minded and do their part in ensuring the race is a pleasant experience for fellow participants.
“Singapore as a city already has clear regulations and our runners tend to follow these guidelines.”
Mr Jeffrey Foo, the director of Infinitus Productions, which organises the Sundown Marathon in Singapore, said that the events that his company organises apply the usual smoking-related guidelines that follow local regulations.
“I have never seen anyone smoke while running a marathon,” said Mr Foo, adding that Mr Chen may be “one in a million”.
