Going the distance

The allure of running a marathon is so strong that some will pay others to run in their name

The Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon. Runners compete in the 10 km race. Antonie Robertson / The National

Running a marathon has come to represent the pinnacle of endurance in sport. Continuously running for 42.2 kilometres has become so popular that many cities around the world host races, and big cities such as New York and Berlin welcome up to 50,000 runners for their marathons. But with the spike in marathon running comes an unusual increase in cheating.

Last week, a runner suffered a heart attack while competing in the Xiamen half-marathon in southeastern China. It turned out the substitute runner had been paid by another person to run the race on his behalf. While runners were able to earn credits towards their university entrance exams, the practice of runners paying others to race for them has been growing.

The beauty of the marathon is that you have to put the work in to succeed. If you don’t train properly, you will get injured or fail to reach the finish line. Paying someone else to run the race for you is an insult to the accomplishments of all those who train so hard.