Ban for runners who swapped numbers

Published on Saturday 27 June 2009 11:10

TWO runners have been banned from competing in the Edinburgh Marathon for life after they were caught swapping entry numbers.

The Scottish club athletes – a man and a woman – were caught after the man completed the 26.2 miles in a time which saw him win a prize for finishing in the top ten of female runners.

A member of the pair's running club is said to have called organisers after seeing the time, which was faster than the woman could run.

It is the first time competitors have been banned from the event.

Damien O'Looney, Edinburgh marathon marketing director, said: "If something had happened to the male runner we wouldn't have known who he was or who to contact because we would have had the details for the woman who had registered for the race.

"We decided to take action by banning them for life because otherwise Scottish Athletics were going to take action and we thought it would be better if they were banned from our race rather than every race in Scotland."

In a statement, the Marathon organisers said: "Edinburgh Marathon Limited has issued an indefinite ban for the Marathon and races organised by GSI events to a male runner who completed the marathon wearing a race number that was issued to a female competitor. The female athlete has also been banned. The action was taken in conjunction with Scottish Athletics."