Influencer Matt Choi Apologizes After Being Banned from NYC Marathon Over Unauthorized E-Bikes: ‘I Was Selfish’

Running influencer Matt Choi has issued an apology after he was disqualified from the New York City Marathon and banned from future races.

The 29-year-old creator posted a video on Instagram on Nov. 5, where he addressed his actions, including allowing two e-bike riders to film him while he ran during the race on Nov. 3.

“I have no excuses, full stop,” he said in the video. “I was selfish on Sunday to have my brother and videographer follow me around the course on e-bikes and it had serious consequences.”

“We endangered other runners, we impacted people going for [their personal best times and] we blocked people from getting water,” he continued. “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.”

The New York Times reported that a video posted on Reddit showed Choi’s entourage riding alongside him and disrupting runners during the race. The New York Times also confirmed that New York Road Runners — the organizers of the New York Marathon and other races in the city — officially disqualified Choi’s running time and banned him from future races.

In his statement, he added that “while there is an opportunity to appeal [the ban], I’m not going to.”

In the caption of his video, Choi also wrote “E-bikes don’t belong in races. No excuses. I was selfish & take full accountability of my actions. I apologize to all the runners impacted and I accept my DQ & lifetime ban. Never again.”

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Choi — who has over half a million followers on TikTok and Instagram — is best known for sharing his journey as a runner and has participated in other marathons across the country. Before his time was disqualified, he shared a video on Instagram from the N.Y.C. Marathon and shared that he ran the race in under three hours.

Choi had previously been criticized on social media for using e-bikes to film content during the Austin marathon in 2023. Similar to the situation in New York, his entourage disrupted runners and marathon traffic during that race while they rode on e-bikes to capture content, per Running Magazine.

In his video, he directly addressed his previous use of e-bikes in past races and the backlash he received at the time, confirming, “that stops here; it won’t happen again.”