Marathon cheats face lifetime ban

China will ban marathon cheats for life to clamp down on scandals that have dogged the fastgrowing sport.

The Chinese Athletics Association ( CAA) said in a statement late Monday that people who run under false names, or cheat in other ways such as replacing a runner with another person during the race or having more than one identifying PIN chip will be banned.

First- time offenders will receive a lifetime ban from the race in which they cheated. A second offense will result in a bar for life from all Chinese marathons.

The December death of a runner in a half- marathon in Xiamen, Fujian Province threw the spotlight on distance- race cheating in the world’s most populous nation. After the man had a heart attack and died 4.5 kilometers from the finish line, it was discovered he was running on someone else’s behalf.

Organizers later disqualified 30 of the 18,000 who had entered the race.

The man’s family last month filed a 1.2 million yuan ($ 174,000) lawsuit against the person who enlisted him to run and race organizers because they had failed to notice him running with a different colored female bib, reported the Beijing Youth Daily.

Long- distance running has become hugely popular in China. In 2016, 2.8 million people participated in 328 marathons in 133 Chinese cities, the CAA said, 150 percent up on the previous year. The number of races is expected to hit 500 this year.

CAA Vice President Du Zhaocai said Monday that China aims to promote healthy lifestyles by holding 800 marathons by 2020 with more than 10 million runners.