Failure to guide during the marathon became a topic of conversation in Sweden.
Felix Kirwa (right). celebrated the victory of the Stockholm Marathon despite the misfortune. AOP
The Stockholm Marathon saw a scandalous blunder when the top three leading the race was steered in the wrong direction.
Run at the top of the race Felix Kirwa, Tesfaye Lencho Anbesa and Merhawi Kesete had time to run about 300 meters astray until they were stopped and directed to the right route.
The runners were on track pace, but as a result of the error, they lost about two minutes.
Marathon race director David Fridell told Swedish TV4 that the guided motorcycle police made a mistake in the guidance.
– The motorcycle police were supposed to direct the runners to the right from Stadsgårdsleden, but instead the control came towards Danvikstullsbron.
– This is really unfortunate. The runners were on track with the route record when this happened. Very unlucky, Fridell regretted.
Kirwa, a Kenyan who suffered a stray, finally managed to win the race on November 2, 2008. Kesete, who was in the trio for the extra trip, was second in the race.
Although no new route record was set, the marathon management decided to reward Kirwa with a $ 5,000 record bonus.
Sources: Aftonbladet, Express