Runner’s World Jokes NYC Marathon Is Back On, Internet Outraged

Oh, my. Runner’s World magazine’s attempt at some humor earlier today has seriously backfired, ya’ll. In a very Onion-like move, the magazine’s blog, Remy’s World, posted a spoof news item claiming that New York City Marathon was back on, attributing the announcement to mayor Michael Bloomberg who “hastily called video conference call with journalists early this morning.” It continued that “a clearly exhausted Bloomberg declared that—after consulting again with advisors, the New York Road Runners, and a one-eyed fortune teller in Times Square named Esmerelda—he had ‘decided that the show must go on, after all.'”

Despite the fact that there’s a big, bold warning at the top of the post that reads, “ED: THE FOLLOWING ‘NEWS’ ITEM IS PURELY SATIRICAL,” Runner’s World’s Facebook page, which linked to the post, included no such warning. And so many NYC Marathon-hopefuls joyously thought the race was actually back on—that is, until they clicked over and realized it was all a joke. Womp-womp.

Not surprisingly, the out-of-luck runners didn’t think this spoof was particularly funny. As of this writing, the Facebook post has 353 comments. Some incensed examples:

At about 2 p.m., Runner’s World posted the following mea culpa:

Lesson learned, I suppose … just maybe a little too late.