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Adidas Apologizes For Insensitive Email Stating Runners ‘Survived’ 2017 Boston Marathon

Adidas Running has apologized after sending an email lauding customers who ran the Boston Marathon on Monday for having “survived” the race.

Adidas Apologizes For Boston Marathon Email

The sportswear giant sent out an email Tuesday with the subject line: “Congrats, you survived the Boston Marathon!”

Several people on social media began reminding Adidas of the 2013 Boston Marathon, during which three people were killed and more than 260 injured when two bombs exploded near the finish line.

Adidas rapidly realized how “insensitive” their comment was and issued an apology for its poor choice of words in a statement in which the sports apparel retailer said it was “incredibly sorry,” and that “no thought was given” to their email subject line.

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Two survivors of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, a terrorist attack perpetrated by two young Muslim Chechen-American brothers, also ran this year’s race.

Adidas stated the marathon is “one of the most inspirational sporting events in the world” and a reminder “”of the hope and resiliency of the running community”.

One of the two terrorists behind the 2013 bombings, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was found guilty of the attacks and was sentenced to the death penalty in 2015.

Tsarnaev and hid older brother, Tamerlan, placed pressure-cooker bombs close to the Marathon finish line.

Tamerlan, then 26, was killed in a shootout with police in Boston.

Dzhokhar, then 19, fled the same shootout but was captured one day later, after being discovered hiding in a boat in the backyard of a nearby house.

Both the male and female winner of this year’s Boston Marathon, held on Patriots’ Day, hail from Kenya.

Geoffrey Kirui and Edna Kiplagat won the men’s and women’s divisions, respectively. Kiplagat is the second-oldest women’s winner in Boston Marathon history at age 37.

Kirui beat American Galen Rupp by 22 seconds in Monday’s race, and the Boston Globe showed the Kenyan crossing the finish line:

Here are more highlights from Monday’s Marathon:

Marcel Hug beat Earnst Van Dyk to claim his third straight men’s wheelchair title:

In the women’s wheelchair race, Hug’s fellow Swiss competitor Manuela Schar set a world record by finishing in 1:28:17:

American Meb Keflezighi, who ran his final Boston Marathon on Monday, bowed to the crowd and also embraced the family of Martin Richard, a boy who died in the 2013 bombings at age 8, in a touching moment.

Marc Fucarile, who lost a leg in the 2013 attacks, finished the race on a hand-cycle.

Another star of the 2017 race was Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to ever run the Boston Marathon in 1967, who returned to run this year’s event on Monday at age 70.

Clearly, there were several emotional moments in this year’s Boston Marathon.

WELLESLEY, MA – APRIL 17: Runners make their way through the half way mark of the marathon in Wellesley, Massachusetts. (Photo by Kayana Szymczak/Getty Images)

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Pablo Mena

Writer and assistant editor for usports.org. NY Giants and Rangers fan. Film and TV enthusiast (especially Harry Potter and The Office) and lover of foreign languages and cultures.

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