A Running Dilemma

The most infamous cheater
The most infamous cheater © Bettmann/CORBIS

Recently, I ran in a new local race in Chicago. I was perplexed to see that my place was not what I expected. It was a pretty small race and I knew what place I was in for women. It then occurred to me that the two women I passed at the end of the race (who were jogging and I thought were not actually in the race) were recorded in the results ahead of me. How is that possible? Clock time versus net time. Since they started later than me they were ahead of me in the results. Um, OK, but I passed them, so they got in front of me at some point somehow and then I passed them. But I never saw them on the course. Hmmm. OK. So you may be wondering – who cares? Well, these women were not in my age group so it really did not impact my standing in the race, but one was in my friend’s age group. It moved her from 2nd to 3rd place. Not the biggest deal ever, but… it seemed weird.

So I made like Velma and looked into it (if you are  not old enough to know this reference. OUCH)
So I made like Velma and looked into it (If you are not old enough to know this reference. OUCH)

OK, I ask you not to judge me here. My curiosity was piqued. I looked on Athlinks to see if these were quick runners who were legit. Um. Well. NOPE! They basically ran much slower in 5K races than the time that they were showing in the FOUR mile race. Their best efforts were not even close to the pace time that was recorded. My assumption is that they turned around early and did not realize that they were impacting the results.

This “incident” coincided with the online viral manhunt for the Boston Marathon bombers. On the first day after  the bombing, two men with no ties to the bombing were implicated. Though my incident was of pretty much no consequence, I was still worried about pointing the finger at people and suggesting that they accidentally or intentionally “cheated”.

This brought up an interesting question for me though. Do I say something when I get my award or let it go? What would you do?

Surprisingly, a few weeks later, a friend of mine (who is a REALLY fast masters (over 40) runner) posted a thread on Facebook that started with:

“How sad is it that you need to cheat in a race in an attempt to win prize money? You’re a disgrace, not a runner, and should not be associated with those who give their heart and soul to the sport”

He went on to explain:

“Some dude at a race in Michigan weekend before last. Started the race late so no one would see him, then he took his race number off and hid it under his clothes as he crossed the 10k finish line when he was supposed to be running the 25k, so he ended up getting 4th place master (because his time got placed in the 25k group) which paid $300. He has been removed from the results completely after I emailed them the race photos which showed him crossing the wrong finish line with no race number on.”

That is like a Kip Litton story! Who would go to such lengths? And why? Ironically, I found many examples including recent age group cheaters at the Vancouver Sun Run 10K and 11 Ways to Cheat in a Marathon from Mental Floss. When Kelly sent me a link to the Kip Litton article, I mentioned my example and my friend’s and she told me that she saw some cheaters in her marathon relay that weekend, too. And they were not close to winning anything. So that got me wondering, in all of the big races I run, how many cheaters are there? And does it really matter?

I asked everyone a bunch of people if I should say anything about the “cheaters” in my small local race. I decided that I would say something when I picked up my award. But, when the time came, I could not do it. The prize differential was so small for my friend ($5) and I really felt like a bit of a loony for cyberstalking these women. It was not like my friend’s story where there was real money, and prestige, on the line. If you know me, I am sure that you are shocked. Normally, I am pretty outspoken.

There it is – my running dilemma. What would you do if you thought someone had cut the course or cheated? Does it matter if there was not much at stake? Have you seen/heard of these types of stories?

PS. Don’t forget to enter my Go To Snacks giveaway and my Athleta Esprit de She giveaway, too!