The family of a runner who died during a marathon after taking another person's place in the race are suing the original runner and the organizers for 1.23 million yuan ($183,000) in total in Xiamen, East China's Fujian Province.
The runner, surnamed Wu, used the number of his colleague's friend, surnamed Li to run the Xiamen (Haicang) International Half Marathon in December 2016, but had a heart attack near the finish line.
The hearing began in Xiamen's Haicang District People's Court Wednesday, with Wu's family demanding Li and the organizers take responsibility for his death, pay compensation and cover funeral expenses and alimony.
The family claim organizers failed to exercise due care by not checking if Wu was the runner who had registered with the number he used, the Xinhua News Agency said.
The family's lawyer told The Beijing News that "this replacement and Wu's death would have been dismissed and avoided if the operator had followed the rules, from registration and body examination."
The family say Li shares responsibility as giving Wu her number broke race rules.
The race operator claims that the sudden death of the runner was an accident and that he did not suffer any external physical injuries while running the race. The organizers also claim that Li privately giving Wu her number damaged their interests.
Li argues that she cannot have had responsibility for Wu as she never met him and the transferal did not in itself directly cause his death.
The case is ongoing.
