At the recent 7th running of the l’Alcdia half marathon in Valencia, Spain. Winner Luis Angel Esriche reached the finish line way ahead of the chasing competitors only to stop, waiting for 28 seconds before actually crossing the finish line to claim victory.
Why?
Well the race organisers were offering 150 euro for anyone who broke the course record (just over 69 minutes). Esriche was well inside this time when he arrived at the finish and seemingly decided to stop before the finish line to avoid breaking the record by too much, in the hope of being able to claim the record again next year.
apuntmedia.es quoted Esriche as saying “everyone can think what they want” while Euro Weekly reported that he agreed that the image of him standing at the finish line for so long could be seen as disrespectful.
Images of this extraordinary finish can be seen in the above video from 7 min 15 seconds onwards.
Incidentally, the woman’s course record was also broken and the winning bonus claimed. But this time in a more conventional style.
Comments