A Kentucky couple is facing backlash after allegedly forcing their six-year-old son to run a 26.6-mile marathon in Cincinnati, Ohio last Sunday.
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Ben and Kami Crawford reportedly allowed their son Rainier to participate in the Flying Pig Marathon. However, the parents met with criticism on social media after witnesses reportedly saw the six-year-old boy crying throughout the intense race. The couple addressed the public’s concerns on their Instagram page Tuesday and said Rainier fell once during the marathon.
‘Many people are inaccurately reporting that people saw him for the “entire” or “majority” of the race crying and that there are numerous witnesses. With our finishing time, this is impossible as we finished the last 5 miles predominately alone and most people’s experience with us was in a one time passing of 30 seconds.’
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The couple also claimed they asked their son several times if he wanted to stop during the marathon and said: “that his preference was to continue.”
‘These experiences were very limited compared to what has been reported and despite the incredible physical and emotional difficulty of running a marathon the amount of his crying is comparable to what we would have experienced had we stayed home on a Sunday morning,’
According to Metro UK, the couple and their six family members all participated in the marathon for the first time. Olympian Lee Troop also criticized the marathon’s organizers for allowing the boy to participate in the run.
Race organizers allowing a 6 year old to run a marathon 🤬
Child stopping every 3mins after 20 miles, crying and emotionally distressed 😢
Parents bribing him to finish & he’ll get Pringles 🤬
Parents seeing no issue in allowing this to happen 🤬
Everything about this is wrong!— Lee Troop 🇦🇺 (@runtroopy) May 4, 2022
A statement was released by the marathon’s organizers who said they evaluate every request for special accommodations.
‘We receive numerous requests for special accommodations each year and carefully evaluate each one. Our goal is to provide a positive race experience for all participants while supporting them along the course. The Flying Pig Marathon was founded on the idea of hosting a world-class road race experience and will always strive to do so.’
Other Twitter users chimed in on the situation and believe that the boy should’ve never participated in the marathon.
Reading this story was truly upsetting. It’s really fucked yo the things parents are willing to force their kids into for a chance at internet fame. We really need to put protections in place for children of family bloggers. It can easily lead to abuse & poor judgment. https://t.co/0IeLzNE7Fw
— 🦊in 🧦 (@Katt_thefox) May 6, 2022
I was sad to hear about this.
Marathon training is hard on ADULTS. Kids literally shouldn’t do it; You could have a serious injury on your hands….or a death.
Like….it’s draining I hope the kid is ok. https://t.co/7APeIrdCHF— ᴮᴱ Dominique (@spittfyre88) May 5, 2022