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

He positioned himself at the halfway mark with the spiked drinks.

Police have identified a man who poured rum into drinks intended for runners in a marathon event in Mexico City. Some footage has been doing the rounds online that appears to show a drunk man filming himself committing the act. In the video, which was shared to Twitter, the individual shows himself holding a bottle of white rum before pouring it all throughout the runner’s cups. [caption id="attachment_357490" align="alignnone" width="2048"] Members of the public finish marathon race (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)[/caption] The man can be heard saying: “​​I’m going to pour some bloody Matusalem [rum] in, so they can show off…” He then adds that the 19,000 competitors there on the day will be ‘at their best’ during the race and that the event will be ‘the best in the world’. Yikes. Not sure how true that can be? Later on, director of the Mexico City Institute of Sport Javier Hidalgo Ponce confirmed that the drink-spiking mystery man had been identified and found, according to Mexico News Daily.  Thankfully, participants did not sip any spiked drinks as workers at the hydration station spotted the spiking. [caption id="attachment_357487" align="alignnone" width="2048"] A runner holds an energy bar and a bottle of water during marathon (Photo by Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images)[/caption] But would could have possessed him? You, guessed it? Alcohol, ironically! The man had attempted the spiking in the early hours of the morning after leaving a nightclub on a a night out. While you would be tempted to laugh at his drunken idea, the situation could turned out differently with the drinks situated at the 20-kilometre point. Basically, 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 on the Mexico City mayor’s office for allowing nightclubs to stay open so late. Related links:

• Terrifying footage shows drunk woman who fell asleep at the wheel speed off at 100mph
• Doctor divides opinion after claiming we should never sleep naked