Sweat, Sales Pitches and Scandal at the Beijing Running Festival (4)

（CRI Online）  09:39, April 17, 2013  

But not all runners were so pleased with the end result of their run. Linus Holmsater has been cooperating with the festival for the past few years organizing and performing the pre-race Heyrobics warm-ups.

But for the second time, he was denied the prize he felt was his due. Last year, he was denied his second place position on the podium because he wasn't wearing the official race T-shirt. This year he acquiesced to wear the official race shirt, and proceeded to finish the race in third place. However, he was again shortly disqualified, this time for having the wrong number on his bib. "But they gave me this number!" he said in exasperation.

"I don't think it's Lining (shoe sponsor) or Amway (festival sponsor) who's causing the problems," he stated. "It's the guys who are organizing these races. I think they want the local students to win. A lot of these other races are doing a good job, but this race and the organization behind it are 30 years behind. I hate to complain after a race. Afterwards you just want to celebrate and have a good time. But it's bitter when you should be on the podium."