In all sports activities curious situations can arise. And the seventh edition of the La Alcudia Half Marathona municipality of 12,000 inhabitants in the province of Valencia, was no exception.
Specifically, the protagonist of the particular event was the runner Luis Escrichewho before crossing the finish line made the decision to stop.
“Cross the finish line, cross it. We don’t know exactly why it doesn’t cross the finish line, but there it is”, were the words that accompanied the race animator, who was puzzled by Escriche’s gesture.
Finally, the Spanish ‘runner’ ended up passing the finish line with a record time of 1 hour, 8 minutes and 45 seconds.
???? Attention to this moment that has made even a @xaviblasco
???? The winner of the Alcúdia Persimmon Half Marathon starred in it. When he was going to cross the finish line, Luis Agustin Escriche, stopped dead.
???? Do you want to know the explanation? don’t miss the@apuntnoticies pic.twitter.com/Mnci5pHmuw
— À Punt Sports (@apuntesports) October 2, 2022
However, many still did not understand the actions of Escriche, who then he was interviewed on Instagram and there he clarified what happened.
“It was a race that I was running with the aim of preparing myself for other competitions. At kilometer 12 I was already alone and I set out to break the test record, but not too much so as to win it once more the following year. That’s why I waited a few seconds before crossing the finish line”, said Escriche, who ended up winning 150 euros for setting the new record.
Additionally, this runner defended his position and said that “I understand that there are people who do not share what I did. I think that today the smallest detail or error is sought to criticize anything (…) I do not live from athletics, but it does help me to earn extra money to support myself. In fact, I would repeat what I did.”
The test, in which 769 runners participated, also had the record in the women’s category, although there was no time for speculation there because the Spanish Patry Lorena Montalvo beat him by a single second with 1 hour, 23 minutes and 40 seconds.