Estonian runner Leonid Latsepov recently placed third in the Helsinki City Running Day Half Marathon on May 11, finishing with a time of 1:07:06. But Latsepov thinks he could have run much faster if it wasn’t for one little issue: While crossing a bridge along the race course, Latsepov was hooked by an angler’s fishing line.
The runner told the Finnish news outlet YLE that the race went smoothly until he reached the Lauttasaari Bridge. The bridge, a popular fishing spot, was still being used on race day, and one fisherman’s line got caught on Latsepov during an unfortunate gust of wind.
Latsepov’s calf and other parts of his body were entangled in the fisherman’s line. At the finish line’s first aid station, four hooks were extracted from him, some from his clothes and others from his lower leg.
“I didn’t feel any pain immediately. I tried to remove the hooks but was unable to do so. It ruined my run, though, my whole race time could have been a minute faster,” Latsepov said to YLE. “Herring fishing is also popular in Estonia, but I never thought this would happen to me.”
Latsepov believes he would’ve been second if not for the hooks. Fellow runner Julius Muriuki beat Latsepov by 18 seconds, while Solomon Boit won the men’s race in 1:04:25.
“Perhaps fishing should have been banned on the bridge during the race in such strong winds, or a greater distance put between people fishing and runners. Well, that’s something to look back on,” Latsepov told YLE.
Race director Harri Hänninen says the fisherman most likely got onto the bridge when no runners were in the area.
“Basically, we instructed people who were fishing to leave the side of the bridge where the route runs. However, the other side of the bridge would have been left free for fishing,” Hänninen said to YLE, adding that the incident was an “unfortunate and shocking event.”
Hänninen says that the race route follows along the northern side of the Lauttasaari bridge, where fishermen usually congregate on the south side.
“The northern side should have been free of people fishing. They had been informed by both the traffic control and the police that it was not possible to fish on the bridge during the runs,” Hänninen said.
Hänninen said that the incident would not result in any route changes in the future. However, race coordinators will monitor the bridge to prevent people from fishing during the race.
Laura Ratliff is a New York City-based writer, editor, and runner. Laura's writing expertise spans numerous topics, ranging from travel and food and drink to reported pieces covering political and human rights issues. She has previously worked at Architectural Digest, Bloomberg News, and Condé Nast Traveler and was most recently the senior editorial director at TripSavvy. Like many of us, Laura was bitten by the running bug later in life, after years of claiming to "hate running." Her favorite marathon is Big Sur.
