A Chinese marathon runner nicknamed the “Smoking Brother” completed a 26-mile race in about three and a half hours only to be disqualified for chain-smoking the entire way.
What Happened: According to a DailyMail report, a 52-year-old Chinese man named “Uncle Chen” completed the 26.2-mile Xiamen Marathon in three hours and 33 minutes on Jan. 7.
Despite finishing 574th out of more than 1,500 competitors, Chen was disqualified for “smoking on the track.”
The Xiamen Marathon committee reportedly issued a statement regarding the disqualification, pointing to a race rule that states, “Uncivilized behavior from runners such as open defecation, smoking, or trampling on flower beds or green spaces ...