Mixed-Up Israeli Runner Starts London Marathon at Finish by Mistake
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
A police officer from Haifa was the last runner to start this year’s London Marathon after he mixed up the finish line for the starting line.
Interviewed by the BBC near the starting line, Hagai Penkar explained that he showed up first at the finish line on Sunday after plugging the wrong information into his internet browser and then lost 38 minutes dealing with London traffic.
Running the 26 miles in 5 hours, 12 minutes and 18 seconds, Penkar finished ahead of some 8,000 runners, according to Haaretz. The race had 39,045 registered runners, including eight Israelis.
Penkar looked on the silver lining of his mistake, telling the journalist: “It took me time to get to the start line, but I met you and I’m speaking and I’m fresh.”
Noticing his interviewer was out of breath from running alongside him, Penkar told her: “Start running more so next time you will be in better shape.”
He added: “I love the United Kingdom and wish everybody in the race, feel well at the end line and a good time.”
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