On December 9th, the coldest Guangzhou Marathon started in the cold wind and drizzle, with about 30,000 participants from 46 countries and regions. In the end, Moroccan runner Mohamed won the men's full marathon with a time of 2 hours, 10 minutes, and 44 seconds. Li Zicheng and Jiao Anjing won the domestic men's and women's championships respectively.

This year, the Guangzhou Marathon entered the threshold of the IAAF and the Chinese Athletics Association's 'Double Gold' events for the first time, naturally attracting much attention. The event's upgrade, significantly improved services and professionalism, and expanded influence are all highlights of this year's Guangzhou Marathon. However, there were some discordant voices in this highly anticipated event.

After the race, some runners revealed that the Guangzhou Marathon had unsealed the roads early, removed the timing equipment at the 30-kilometer mark, and a large number of runners did not have their timing information recorded, resulting in no final results!

A netizen @AlwaysHelpless revealed on Weibo: The 2018 Guangzhou Marathon unsealed the roads early, removed the timing equipment at the 30-kilometer mark, and a large number of athletes had to run on the sidewalks. Even if they reached the finish line, they did not have the timing information for the 30-kilometer mark, resulting in no final results! Timing volunteers reconnected the timing equipment under the complaints of the athletes, receiving unanimous applause.

According to the netizen's revelation, many pacers were also affected by this 'disaster,' being locked out by the early removal of the timing mat at the 30-kilometer mark!

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    According to a video provided by netizen @AlwaysHelpless, many runners were negotiating with staff at the timing mat.
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    According to the revelation by netizen @GrinningTiger, the timing mat at the 30-kilometer mark was removed at 11:30!<strong>According to the official manual, the cut-off time for the 30-kilometer mark should be 11:55. The timing mat was removed 25 minutes early, causing many runners to miss the timing information at the 30-kilometer mark.</strong>
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    <img class="" data-ratio="0.7507246376811594" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/download/storage/v1/b/runboxapp-web-online.appspot.com/o/public%2F5897%2F640!640m0?generation=1715755343680334&alt=media" data-type="jpeg" data-w="690" style="width:100%"/>
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    <img class="" data-ratio="1.7782608695652173" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/download/storage/v1/b/runboxapp-web-online.appspot.com/o/public%2F5897%2F640!640m0?generation=1715755348743278&alt=media" data-type="jpeg" data-w="690" style="width:100%"/>
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<p><br/></p><p>  <br/></p><div class="zy_media"><video src=" https://s2.codooncdn.com/content-codoon/internal-user/2018-12-11T10.33.09/5849823xGy6XFuvFFSvLMY4sRp" poster="https://s1.codooncdn.com/content-codoon/internal-user/2018-12-11T10.33.16/337166xUqCQjWOe4FTqhpmviz" preload="none"><source src="https://s2.codooncdn.com/content-codoon/internal-user/2018-12-11T10.33.09/5849823xGy6XFuvFFSvLMY4sRp" type="video/mp4"/></video></div>
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    The netizen stated: After running the marathon for four hours, the roads were unsealed, and the traffic police were very aggressive! All the supply stations for the last five kilometers were closed, and I didn't even get a sip of water! Having run so many marathons, this is the first time I've seen a race where marathon runners are forced to run on the sidewalks! In addition, some marathon runners were weaving through traffic!
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    According to a video shot by a netizen:<strong>Although most of the city roads had been unsealed, we still saw many runners persisting towards the finish line. In their eyes, the Guangzhou Marathon was not over; once they started, they had to run to the finish line!</strong>Isn't this the spirit of the marathon, the original intention of why we run marathons?</p><p><br/></p>
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    Having just upgraded to the 'IAAF Gold Label + Chinese Athletics Association Gold Medal,' many aspects were indeed done very well, attracting enthusiastic participation from domestic runners, but there are still many details that need improvement!
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    Once on the marathon track, every runner deserves respect! Whether it's the champion who finishes in just over 2 hours or those who cross the finish line in over 6 hours before the cut-off, they are all heroes!
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    <img class="" data-ratio="0.6795774647887324" data-s="300,640" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/download/storage/v1/b/runboxapp-web-online.appspot.com/o/public%2F5897%2F640!640m0?generation=1715755354687749&alt=media" data-type="png" data-w="852" style="width:100%"/>
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    Unsealing the track as soon as possible to minimize the impact of the event on citizens' travel is indeed something worth promoting and learning from other events. However, once the race has started, it should be strictly executed according to the rules. We cannot overly affect traffic due to the race, nor can we unseal the track early to reduce traffic impact. This is unfair to the runners on the track.
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    <strong>What do you think about the Guangzhou Marathon unsealing the track early and removing the timing mat early, resulting in many runners not having their results?</strong>
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