The internet is in an uproar over a video of a father who “pushed” his children into the path of their running mother as she completed a marathon. Now, people are claiming the husband “sabotaged” his wife at the finish line by distracting her with their children.
In the video, posted by TikTok user @sinomar_reporter, a woman can be seen running down a hill and racing toward the finish line. A man, who appeared to be the father, stood on the grassy sidelines with two small children. Holding their hands, he encouraged his children to walk onto the path and towards their mom.
As the woman ran closer to the finish line, she swerved out of the direction of her children and through the finish line banner. She completed the marathon in one hour and 46 minutes, and celebrated by clapping and fist pumping the air.
However, the father was seen still standing on the sidelines. At one point, he even shrugged at fellow spectators, seemingly confused that the woman didn’t stop to hug her children before completing the race.
Since it was posted on May 5, the clip has received nearly 10m views on TikTok – as well as many angry reactions from users.
In the comments section, thousands of people criticized the father for potentially ruining what was an important moment for his partner. “As she should!!! What a huge accomplishment for her,” one TikTok user replied. “For ONCE can we NOT interrupt a mom and let her have her darn deserved MOMENT!”
Some critics believed that the father’s gesture showed a lack of consideration or support for his partner’s passions, like one person who said: “This is a reallllly good example of the subtle way that some husbands treat their wives’ serious commitments outside of family life, like a joke or not serious, or just for fun.”
“He’s trying to remind her that he and the kids are all that matters,” another TikTok user claimed. “No matter how much she accomplished. And I’m glad she chose herself!”
Others simply wondered why the father would place their children into the path of oncoming runners, rather than wait for the mother at the end of the finish line.
“Notice how he could’ve easily just placed them on the other side of the finish line,” one person on X, formerly Twitter, pointed out. “You gotta be wary of people who wanna sabotage things that are important to you, even in small ways.”
Someone else chimed in: “I’m glad she chose herself.”
This isn’t the first time that a father has sparked online backlash for being seemingly unsupportive of his partner. Back in January, TikTok user Jared Sayre argued that being a stay-at-home mother is not a job, inciting anger throughout social media.
“Being a stay-at-home mom is not a job whatsoever. It’s a privilege,” Sayre proclaimed at the time. “Do you know how many single mothers out there actually have jobs and then have to come home and do your job?”
“I can do all the daily responsibilities that come with taking care of a house in no time, and other than that, all you have to do is watch your kid,” he added.
In response, many people emphasized how much work stay-at-home mothers do for their children, let alone maintaining an entire household.
“The audacity to think you just ‘watch’ your kids instead of ‘raise’ your kids,” one person replied, while another said: “Wait a minute, stay at home moms are watching TV and taking naps. I must be doing this wrong.”
“I’ve been both. Being a stay-at-home mom is way harder,” someone else said.
