Running influencer Matt Choi is apologizing amid backlash for violating the rules of the road during Sunday’s New York City Marathon and has been banned from participating in future iterations of the coveted race.
New York Road Runners also disqualified the social media personality’s 2:57:15 time from the Nov. 3 race after Choi, 29, was flanked by “two unauthorized people riding the course on electric bicycles, obstructing runners” and filming much of his run, according to a statement shared by Runner’s World.
“After a review and due to violations of World Athletics rules, and New York Road Runners’ Code of Conduct and Rules of Competition, NYRR has disqualified Matt Choi from the 2024 TCS New York City Marathon and removed him from the results,” said the nonprofit, which also organizes other New York races. “He has been banned from any future NYRR races.”
Late Tuesday morning, Choi addressed the “lifetime ban” on a Reel on Instagram in which he apologized for the “selfish” screwup.
“I f–ked up,” said Choi. “I have no excuses, full-stop. I was selfish on Sunday to have my brother and my videographer follow me around on E-bikes and it had serious consequences. We endangered other runners. … We blocked people from getting water. And with the New York City Marathon being about everyone else, and the community, I made it about myself. And for anyone I impacted, I’m sorry. … This was 100% on me.”
Choi added that though he has the opportunity to appeal the ban, he won’t.
“I made my bed, so I’m gonna lay in it,” said Choi, admitting this is not the first time he’s been called out for using e-bikes in races. “It won’t happen again. My word is my bond.”
Choi’s apology followed a slew of online backlash, with heated comments on his posts as well as on X (formerly Twitter), Reddit threads and a running message board.
Though he currently has 404,000 followers on Instagram, Choi had over 405,000 at the time the Runner’s World report was published. Choi still boasts over 465,000 followers on TikTok.
The Daily News has reached out to Choi via Instagram for comment.
