Wu Xiangdong has won his category at the Shanghai International Half Marathon 2019 on 21 April despite running more than six kilometres of the race suffering from an awkward diarrhoea.
Wu felt uncomfortable after 10km of running and from the 14km mark onwards he had the need to relieve himself. However, as there wasn’t any toilet around, he decided to keep running until he completes the race.
Although embarrassed by the whole incident, Wu finished the race in 1 hour, 6 minutes and 16 seconds. He said he might have had diarrhoea because of the wet clothes he was wearing.
When interviewed by a TV reporter, he said,
“Even I couldn’t stand the smell. I kept running and didn’t stop [to go to the toilet because there weren’t any] and I wanted to beat the African runner at the finish. I was really relieved when I crossed the finish line. It seemed I had more power after I excreted everything [during the race]. I definitely would have run faster if I didn’t have this [episode].”
There have been a mixed feelings from netizens with some commenting it must have been a “smelly marathon”.
Other netizens supported the Chinese runner, saying he was “brave” to have completed the half-marathon in such dire circumstances.
What would you do if you have a need to go to the toilet during an important race?
Featured Photo Credit: Sina.com
