The video below is the quintessential warning for a host of human endeavors from law school exams to marriage: stay on the path and don’t make unplanned turns. In a heartbreaking moment, Natsuki Terada had pulled ahead in a marathon and was just about to win when he made the wrong turn. You can watch what happened.
Terada was just 200 feet from the finish line when he followed a camera truck. It turned out the camera truck was getting out of the way for the pictures at the finish line. Terada was competing for Kokugakuin University in the Hakone Ekiden relay marathon event between Tokyo and Hakone.
Kudos: William T.
Jonathan Turley
Seems like that was a race I was in before I knew what I was running for. Now I don’t run so much.
Seconding Tom’s comment. Don’t feel to bad for the guy, this race is a qualification race where the first 10 qualify for further competition, and he arrived 9 instead of 7, or something similar. He did achieve his target.
Actually, this is not a marathon but a two day relay race. The runner in question is not in position to win the race, he is actually trying to make the top ten and automatically qualify his university for next year’s race. The first group of runners had already completed the race. He does indeed make the top ten even with the little detour.
That would be my luck!! I feel sorry for him. It looked like he planned his kick at the right moment.
I feel bad for the marathoner. He was following direction of officials. I think a review of the finish should cause him to be declared the winner.