A married couple who completed the 2021 London Marathon together have faced a backlash after a photograph revealed they wore the same race number. Monika Czarnecka and Piotr Czarnecki were photographed running side by side with identical registration numbers, 11250, pinned to their chests.
It later emerged that only Monika was officially entered for the 26.2-mile race. Piotr admitted he had not secured a place and had duplicated the number to gain access to the course and support his wife during her first marathon.
Monika finished in 21,697th place out of more than 40,000 participants, with a time of four hours, 40 minutes and 58 seconds. The couple's actions drew criticism from social media users, particularly those who had been unsuccessful in gaining a place in the popular event.
Responding to the anger, Monika said: "I'm truly sorry for what we've done and didn't want to cause any harm. It hurts to think that I've let them down." Piotr, who had run the London Marathon twice before, said: "It was all my idea and I take full responsibility for it. I know it's wrong and I'm truly sorry, but I did what I did to support my wife."
A London Marathon spokesperson said: "We are aware of the images that show two runners wearing identical numbers, and we are investigating. We take any incident where a participant cheats or forges numbers extremely seriously."
