Trouble At The London Marathon Finish Line!
On Sunday, April 28, 2019, an Englishman named Lukas Bates attempted to break the world record for a marathon dressed as London's iconic clock "Big Ben." However, while crossing the finish line of the London Marathon, he ran into some trouble.
Bates' costume was more than five feet taller than his head, resulting in him getting stuck after the top of the costume got caught on the overhead scoreboard at the finish line. Clearly, this was something that he hadn't taken into account and was paying for it as other runners continued to pass the finish line.
Luckily, after numerous attempts to get out of his sticky situation, a race steward arrived on the scene to help him finish the race. Bates was racing for the Paddock Wood Athletic Club and completed the marathon in 3 hours, 54 minutes, and 21 seconds. That's just 20 seconds slower than the record set by Richard Mietz, who ran the 2018 Berlin Marathon dressed as the Holstentor gate in Germany.
On the comical incident, the Paddock Wood Athletic Club tweeted, "Our member Lukas Bates, running a brilliant sub 4hr time and then having a little trouble at the finish line! #BigBen." Bates found it hard not to laugh at himself.
