Death and Taxes Magazine
Date: December 14, 2015
By: Jamie Peck

When she isn’t chasing runners around a marathon route, the woman is an actress

Taiwan’s Keelung Marathon inspired its contestants to run faster than usual when its organizers hired a helpful ghost to hang out along the marathon route.

According to the Star Daily Standard, organizers of the December 8 marathon hired the ghost in an effort to scare contestants into greater success. Looking vaguely like the girl from Japanese horror film Ringu in a childlike outfit accessorized with eye-covering hair and a white parasol, she hung out at the marathon’s halfway point — which happened to be in the middle of the woods — and waited for runners to pass by. “I didn’t dare frighten people by hiding in the woods,” she told Taiwanese news media. “I just waited for them to encourage them.” Sometimes she “encouraged” them a little extra by running after them. As it turned out, the tactic worked, with numerous runners posting personal bests during the race.