Police identify man who spiked marathon runners with rum instead of water during race

Police have identified a man who poured rum into drinks intended for participants in a marathon event in Mexico City. 

A video has been doing the rounds online that appears to show an intoxicated man filming himself carrying out the act.

In the clip, which was uploaded to Twitter, the man shows himself holding a bottle of white rum before pouring it all throughout the runner’s cups.

🥴🇲🇽 Mexico City authorities are looking for a man who poured rum in marathon and posted on social media a few hours before the start of the race: "Tomorrow they will all be at their best, f***ing race is going to be the best in the world,” the man in the footage said. pic.twitter.com/Fx1pORslKo

— Ahmed Arif (@Arttey) August 30, 2022

The man can be heard saying: “​​I’m going to pour some bloody Matusalem [rum] in, so they can show off…”

He comments that the competitors will be ‘at their best’ during the race and that the event will be ‘the best in the world’. 

While there will certainly be a pep in their step of the runners, we couldn’t imagine anything worse than being mid 42-kilometre run and copping a mouthful of straight liquor. 

According to Mexico News Daily, director of the Mexico City Institute of Sport Javier Hidalgo Ponce confirmed that the drink-spiking culprit had been found by authorities. 

Ponce confirmed that thankfully no runners actually consumed the spiked drinks as workers at the hydration station had realised that there wouldn’t be any hydrating going on.

In typical drunk fashion, the man had attempted the spiking in the early hours of the morning after leaving a nightclub on a boozy night out. 

With the drinks situated at the 20-kilometre point, the consumption of straight alcohol could have been lethal.

Ponce said: “We classify this incident as poisoning.”

He also confirmed that the perpetrators name had been given to the Mexico City Attorney General’s Office and it was up to them to persecute him.

The director blamed the incident onf the Mexico City mayor’s office for allowing nightclubs to stay open so late.

More than 19,000 runners competed in the event and (hopefully) the majority weren’t intoxicated.

Kenya’s Edwin Kiptoo won the men’s event finishing the entire marathon course in a time of two hours and 10 minutes.

Amane Beriso from Ethiopia won the women’s race with a record time of two hours and 25 minutes.

Hopefully they enjoyed some Matusalem after the race.