Buenos Aires Marathon champ mistaken as bandit runner

Mariano Mastromarino became the first Argentine runner to win the Buenos Aires Marathon in 10 years over the weekend, though race officials along the way didn’t believe a local man could have beaten the two Kenyan favourites when he overtook them nearing the finish of the race.

Mastromarino ran 2:15:28 to win the race, passing Julius Keringa of Kenya, the defending champion, at the 37 km mark, but Reuters reports race officials tried to make him leave the course, thinking he was a bandit and not believing a local Argentine could possibly win the race, even though Mastromarino is one of Argentina’s top marathon runners, nearly qualifying to run on the country’s Olympic team in 2012.

The two Kenyan leaders faded considerably in the finals kilometres, also being overtaken by two Chilean runners who finished second and third.

Oscar Cortinez was the last Argentine to win the men’s race in 2004, though other South American athletes from Brazil and Colombia have won. Argentine women also regularly win the race, though not in recent years; Kenyan Lucy Karimi won the women’s race for the third time.