Slowest marathon runners mocked
London Marathon's last finisher 'ignored and laughed at'
The last finisher at Sunday's London Marathon has said she had a "brutal" experience being ignored and "sniggered at" by stewards.
Mum Kerrie Aldridge, raising money for a miscarriage charity, said the course was being cleared as she completed the marathon in nine hours and 11 minutes.
The criticism comes after another woman said she was called "fat and slow" by contractors at Sunday's race.
London Marathon organisers apologised, adding they were investigating.
Stewards were dismantling the course - including taking down mile markers and barriers - as Ms Aldridge from Cardiff finished the event, which attracted a record 42,549 runners.
She said she was forced to drink from half-empty discarded bottles of water because the refuel stops were no longer manned.
To make matters worse, she said some contractors were rude to her when she asked for directions.Mum Kerrie Aldridge, raising money for a miscarriage charity, said the course was being cleared as she completed the marathon in nine hours and 11 minutes.
The criticism comes after another woman said she was called "fat and slow" by contractors at Sunday's race.
London Marathon organisers apologised, adding they were investigating.
Stewards were dismantling the course - including taking down mile markers and barriers - as Ms Aldridge from Cardiff finished the event, which attracted a record 42,549 runners.
She said she was forced to drink from half-empty discarded bottles of water because the refuel stops were no longer manned.
"It was amazing and brutal all at the same time," said Ms Aldridge.
"You see the London Marathon as being the people's marathon with crowds and everyone screaming, cheering you on.
"But if you are a back-of-the-pack runner, you don't get that."
She imagined crowds would be lining the road at London's famous landmarks.
"Everyone talks about the Tower of London being a defining moment - crowds from wall to wall," she said.
"I turned that corner and there were clean-up trucks sweeping the road.
"Stewards turned their backs and carried on their conversation or looked me up and down and sniggered at me," she said.
Ms Aldridge, who has one child, has raised thousands of pounds for the Miscarriage Association after having miscarried multiple times herself.
The 39-year-old said her negative experiences of the race made the positive ones all the more memorable.
"I had a woman who had three miscarriages come up to me and hugged me, and said 'keep on running, do it for my angel babies'," she added.
"Thousands and thousands of people messaged me saying 'you are my hero'."
The London Marathon apologised to Ms Aldridge as they "were very sorry to hear about her experience."
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First run since crossing the finishing line at @nessmarathon last year (Sep 23rd). I feel surprisingly OK.— Graham Mad Teacher (@madteacher72) 30 de abril de 2019
I've never been much of a stretcher so I'm looking for some tips:https://t.co/l5FrpEUO3T
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Comments
I don´t know what to say. It´s sad that people laughed at other people, especially, reason for physical flaws. It seems that some runners mocked and sniggered at her. Some contractors were rude to her and some stewards sniggered at her. To make worse she was called “fat and slow”. I suppose that she was making a big effort to cross the finishing line.
Sometimes the lack of respect comes to sport and not only at marathon, but at football, tennis, basketball and so on. A sports event becomes in a bad evening because of these stupid people.
What I can´t understand is that a woman said that she kept on running for her angel babies. Marathon has nothing to do with miscarriages.
She is my hero too, because she would have arrived before me, if I had been in this race.
See you.
Many people run marathons to raise money for charity. In this case, the woman was raising money for a miscarriage charity. The woman who encouraged the runner to keep running must have suffered miscarriages.
I don´t know what to say. It´s sad that people laugh at others, especially, because of physical flaws. It seems that some runners mocked and sniggered at her. Some contractors were rude to her and some stewards sniggered at her. To make matters/things worse, she was called “fat and slow”. I suppose that she was making a big effort to cross the finishing line.
Sometimes the lack of respect comes to sport and not only in marathons, but also at football, tennis, basketball and so on. A sports event turns into a bad evening because of these stupid people.
What I can´t understand is why a woman told the runner to keep on running for her angel babies. A marathon has nothing to do with miscarriages.
She is my hero too, because she would have arrived before me, if I had been in this race.