China: Hundreds of marathon runners found taking shortcuts in race; slammed for dishonesty

Beijing, Dec 5: Corruption is about mind more than money. A recent half-marathon in Shenzhen city in China's Guangdong province saw several runners adopting unethical means by taking shortcuts, doing a disservice to the spirit of fair play and sportsmanship.

According to a report in Shanghaiist, surveillance cameras caught 237 participants evading a stretch measuring a kilometre by running through bushes and shrubbery. This ensured that these runners had to run two to three kilometres less than the overall distance of 21 kilometres.

Also, the organisers said that there were three imposters who were running in place of actual participants while 18 participants wore fake bibs, raising the total number of people cheating to 258.

The cheats not only faced lifetime bans but were also bashed by the state media for indulging in gross disrespect of the sporting spirit.