The organizers of the New York City Marathon have banned a running influencer for future races and from participating in the race after he completed the marathon with the help of two cameramen riding electric bikes.
New York Road Runners – the organization that organizes the marathon – said Matthew Choi was banned from the event for life.
New York Road Runners reported that “one of the incidents brought NYRR’s notice was that Choi was running with two unauthorized individuals riding the course on an electric bicycle, obstructing other runners.”
Choi, 29, has almost 500,000 social media followers and completed the race in just 2:57:15. However, he was disqualified from his race and had all of his results removed.
New York Road Runners stated in a press release that Choi had violated World Athletics’ rules and code and their own competition rules.
Choi, an ex-football player from Monmouth University used people on e-bikes to film the run. However, other runners complained about Choi’s bikes and how they were blocking their view. They also said that he was a nuisance to the other racers. Over 55,000 people completed the 26.2-mile race through five boroughs on Sunday.
Choi posted on social media: “I have no explanations.” “It was selfish of me to let my brother and videographer follow on e-bikes on Sunday, and there were serious consequences.”
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He continued, “The New York City Marathon was about the community and everyone else. I made it my own. I’m sorry to anyone I may have impacted. This was all my fault.”
Choi replied, “I’ve made my bed and I will lie in it. It won’t happen anymore. My word is my bond.”
