A man smoked his way through a 26.2 mile marathon — literally.
The Mirror reports a 50-year-old Chinese runner, who goes by the name Uncle Chen, completed the Xin’anjiang Marathon while puffing on cigarettes in under 3 1/2 hours. Images of Chen sucking down ciggys have gone viral on the Chinese social media site Weibo.
Fans are not only impressed by Chen’s breathing fortitude, they are also amazed he never once ran out of cigarettes during the lengthy jaunt. Some action shots see him pulling out a new cig and lighting it while maintaining his pace.
In all, he finished in 574th place out of 1,500 runners. It should also be noted that this is among his best marathon times, as he completed a 2018 marathon in 3 hours, 36 minutes, while he finished a 2019 sprint in 3 hours, 32 minutes.
Which means his puffing-while-running tactic is working somehow. Chinese officials add smoking isn’t banned in marathons … at least for now.
Uncle Chen’s full identity remains unknown.