London Marathon bosses give free entry to runners who event staff insulted by calling them ‘fat’ and ‘slow’ during this year’s race
- Organisers have apologised to the 678 runners who took more than seven hours
- Contractors had started clearing up before some had reached the finish line
- An investigation has been carried out into the abuse suffered by runners
Runners who were called ‘fat’ and ‘slow’ by staff at this year’s London Marathon have been given free entry to next year’s race.
Organisers have apologised to the 678 runners who took more than seven hours to finish the race this year.
Contractors had started clearing up from the event before some participants had even reached the finish line.
Organisers have apologised to the 678 runners who took more than seven hours to finish this year’s London Marathon after they were targeted with abuse and staff packed up before they had finished
Big Brother’s Jack Glenny, 24, who ran the race with his twin brother Joe in aid of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, said people shouted ‘run fat boy run’ at him
Some runners even said parts of the course were cleared away, leaving them unable to see where to go.
Big Brother’s Jack Glenny, 24, who ran the race with his twin brother Joe in aid of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, said that one of the ‘proudest moments of his life’ was ruined by nasty comments and mismanagement that made him feel like a “nuisance”.
The billings account manager, who competed the race in just over seven hours and raised £6,000, said: ‘We felt extremely let down by the organisation, we were forced to move out of the way for a marshal van, workers were taking down barriers and posters the whole time.
‘We were berated and told “run, fat boy run” and then when we crossed the line, after having to move for some workers taking down the scaffolding, I overheard an official saying “these lot should have left at 6am, the f****** amount of time it’s taken them to run this!”‘
Hugh Brasher, event director of the Marathon, has conducted an investigation and apologised to each of the runners affected
Liz Ayres, a back-of-the-pack pace setter, said many of her fellow runners were left in tears by the abuse
In an email to participants, London Marathon Events said an investigation failed to find the ‘very small number of contractors and volunteers’ who were ‘shouting unhelpful comments to slower runners’, according to The Independent.
Liz Ayres, a back-of-the-pack pace setter, confronted race director Hugh Brasher live on air about the brutal treatment suffered by contestants who were reduced to tears after allegedly told to ‘get a f****** move on’.
In a stinging attack, she directly accused Marathon officials of berating the slower runners.
Liz told the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme: ‘We had some that were saying, “if you weren’t so fat you could run faster”.
Jack (left) said: ‘We felt extremely let down by the organisation, we were forced to move out of the way for a marshal van’
Others complained about the poor organisation and the lack of water at stations on the course
‘We had, “it’s a race not a walk.” It was so horrible, it was like “if you didn’t eat as much, your t-shirt would fit.”
‘These were from people wearing the London Marathon blue jackets, officials these were.
‘Contractors were swearing at us constantly to f****** move out of the road and to get a f****** move on.’
Following their investigation, London Marathon organisers have said they will start the clean-up operation later and look at the timings of when water was handed out.
Some of its most senior staff will also be at the back of the race to monitor the event and contractors will be told of the procedures in place for those running at the slower pace.