Thousands of Runners Injured at Guangdong Marathon

By Jocelyn Richards

Between its smoggy skies and sedentary population, China isn't exactly synonymous with long-distance running. Yet the country now hosts more than 130 marathons each year and saw roughly 1.5 million participants cross the finish line in 2015, according to data from the Chinese Athletic Association.

As Chinese authorities aggressively promote running to boost the value of the country’s sports economy to RMB5 trillion by 2025, however, they seem to have forgotten one little detail – a marathon is, uh, difficult.

On Sunday, March 20, thousands of Chinese runners encountered illnesses and injuries while jogging 26.2 miles in Qingyuan – a city in the north of Guangdong province.

A local newspaper, Qingyuan Daily, reported medical workers performed first aid on participants more than 12,000 times, treating muscle spasms and sprains as well as dehydration. Ambulances were called in 23 times and 17 people were hospitalized, with five in critical condition.

Yet it wasn’t merely a lack of conditioning that caused excessive injuries – a bar of seemingly innocuous grape-scented soap included in gift packs proved especially dangerous, as many mistook it for food.

In the runners’ defense, there was no Chinese on the package, and appetizing images of juicy vineyard fruit probably looked very appealing after all but stumbling across the finish line (which is when the soap was handed out).

According to the BBC, witnesses reported “many bars of soap, all with one bite missing, dumped at the roadside.”

Following the event, Weibo users jumped at the opportunity to mock Qingyuan’s marathon organizers, joking they should contact the Guinness Book of Records and claim: “More than 10,000 people together eat soap. China is a land full of wonders.”

Others scoffed that if the runners had known simple English, they wouldn’t have mistaken the bar for food. “Your life isn’t good if your English isn’t good,” one Weibo user ascertained.

So far, event organizers have yet to comment on the controversial goody bags, but one spokesman defended the success of the marathon's medical personnel. “If they performed 12,000 treatments in five hours, I think that is quite an accomplishment.”

Well, sure, that's one way of looking at it – and all the more reason runners should probably register elsewhere.

[Images via People's Daily]

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