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Runner Disqualified After Claiming 2nd Place in Fort Lauderdale Half Marathon

marathoninvestigation.com

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Re: Runner Disqualified After Claiming 2nd Place in Fort Lauderdale Half Marathon

#151

Post by runnr_az »

masterponomo wrote: post #148
runnr_az wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A little surprised to see this on the front page of HN, but I don't think we can deny that running is probably the nerdiest of sports. Anyway, that's nice that she owned up to it. Most of the cheaters don't. As a guy who's no doubt proved my running bonafides -- 3:06 marathon pr + there's a picture of me on the Western States 100 wikipedia page -- I always wonder why people get so angry about this kind of thing. I me…

I'm a casual runner, but I am engaged in a secret athletic struggle against my nemesis, a guy in my age group (55-59) who routinely finishes about 5 minutes ahead of me in local 5K races. It's a secret struggle because I'm not on even on his radar...but HE is on MINE. Believe me, if someone cheated and put yet another spot in the rankings between me and Nemesis, he would be stealing something important from me.

Haha. Yeah... I totally hear ya. That's fair. It's important to have a Nemesis. Go get him!

Re: Runner Disqualified After Claiming 2nd Place in Fort Lauderdale Half Marathon

#152

Post by sah2ed »

aioprisan wrote: post #145
sah2ed wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you are missing his point. There is nothing wrong with the methodology (using her own Garmin watch as conclusive evidence) but there is something to be said about the medium through which she was exposed (the Internet). The problem is the Internet never forgets so even if she learns a hard lesson from her actions and chooses to become a changed person (ala becoming a coach/public speaker/etc), her name will s…

I think you missed the point as well. The newspaper coverage of her public deception and lying is on par with the benefits that she would otherwise try to benefit from by building up her image on fake wins and defrauding people who have trained harder to get those same results - and somehow we're supposed to give her a pass because she might want to have another public trust position in the future? She should work an…

For the record, I absolutely do not condone what she did.

What she did was very dishonest and she has paid the price.

Merely pointing out what has already been said elsewhere in the thread that the internet, as a medium of communication, can deliver outsized punishments long after any "crime" has been committed.

Re: Runner Disqualified After Claiming 2nd Place in Fort Lauderdale Half Marathon

#154

Post by mikestew »

gabemart wrote: post #25
npunt wrote: post #20

Regardless of the cheating, this type of post doesn't fully sit right with me. Given the permanence of record on the internet, this does bring up the issue of how we police bad behavior, and how we incorporate forgiveness into that. That said, the poster was pretty fair, and generally refer to her as "the runner". It definitely reads as an obsessive sleuthing, no doubt in part because there were follow-on discoveries…

I commend your call to sympathy. I don't like taking a drive-by, salacious interest in a story that doesn't affect me in the least, but will probably have serious, perhaps devastating consequences for the person involved for a long time professionally. I also think it's worth pointing out that the original article, while using photos of the person involved, never uses their full name, so is to some extent not google-…

I don't like taking a drive-by, salacious interest in a story that doesn't affect me in the least, but will probably have serious, perhaps devastating consequences for the person involved for a long time professionally.

Long before the Internet showed up, what you describe was why you don't do such things. Is the punishment disproportionate to the crime? Yeah, could be. But whether it's pre-internet community gossip or the whole world knows, you don't such things because it could ruin your reputation if found out. Right or wrong, that's always been reality.

"Devastating consequences...professionally", as it should be. If she'll cheat in a race to make herself look good, what will she do in your business when real money is on the line? Cook your books? Lie about results (already has a track record for that one)? As long as she comes out looking good.

Its a common theme on HN to scoff at the trivial fines for companies caught cheating when the profits gained through cheating are much larger. In the case of this runner, I think a global calling-out is appropriate given that she'd sure accept the accolades were she not found out.

Re: Runner Disqualified After Claiming 2nd Place in Fort Lauderdale Half Marathon

#155

Post by gk1 »

gjem97 wrote: post #114
gk1 wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Timing mats are usually placed at the same distance in every race: 5k, 10k, 13.1mi, etc. Adding extra mats probably means more cost. That didn't prevent the 2016 Philadelphia Marathon organizers from placing an unannounced mat at a turnaround point 22 miles into the race. It helped them catch hundreds of cheaters. And even if you can afford the extra mats, another challenge is where to place them. It's obvious with a…

Hundreds of cheaters?! Now I'm starting to understand why marathon sleuthing is the cottage industry that it is.

I think the number was unusually high for this particular race because the out-and-back is at the tail end of the race, is very long (4 miles out, 4 miles back), is only separated by traffic cones (making it easy to cut to the other side), and the weather was unusually brutal (very windy, near-freezing). It never occurred to me to cut to the other side, but I can understand why it did to many others.

Re: Runner Disqualified After Claiming 2nd Place in Fort Lauderdale Half Marathon

#156

Post by rdtsc »

potatosareok wrote: post #21
rdtsc wrote: post #8

Why? What drives people to do it? Is there money on the line? sponsorships for products. It obviously wasn't just a momentary weakness it was an elaborate plan and for what to brag about it at work or on Instagram? But wouldn't she know she cheated every time she thought or talked about it. That would be hard thing to live with it seems Edit: wonder how I'd feel if a friend or co-worker did this. I could see it creat…

Beyond this post, you might be interested in another post in the blog: http://www.marathoninvestigation.com/2017/01/WhyIcheated.htm... . The blogger interviews someone he caught cheating in a pretty benign fashion about why he cheated. From that article, and my perspective on it, the answer to: > That would be hard thing to live with it seems Is the choice is not between 1) My great life 2) My greater life, with some…

I think there is a difference between momentarily having a lapse in judgement and just not saying anything. We've all made bad decisions, I certainly made plenty. There is a different of preparing and planning to cheat, like say doing the race on a bicycle to cover up the lie and generate fake data.

Re: Runner Disqualified After Claiming 2nd Place in Fort Lauderdale Half Marathon

#157

Post by pm24601 »

leereeves wrote: post #49
angry-hacker wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you think this is public shaming? If so, majority of newspapers are about public shaming. It's actually decent investigation here.

Newspapers are about public shaming and a significant portion of the public is sick of it. I mean, look at what the WSJ tried to do to PewDiePie, how the rest of the media piled on, and how people reacted.

PewDiePie was a public figure already. The person in the article was not.

The person caught cheating has no platform from which to defend themselves. PewDiePie made $15million from his platform.

Re: Runner Disqualified After Claiming 2nd Place in Fort Lauderdale Half Marathon

#158

Post by purple-again »

ajeet_dhaliwal wrote: post #62

I know nothing about running and this post was like looking into a whole world I did not know existed, all of this tech used in something as basic as running, so many opportunities for entrepreneurs in every aspect of life. Every one lives in their own world, some people wonder why gamers like to finish all side quests in a game, others may wonder why someone cares about running marathons so much, using all this tech…

That's the kind of apology you expect from someone that's sorry they got caught. She can't get through the first paragraph without trying to make another excuse about not feeling well. Completely removes any sincerity from the rest of the piece.

Different people have different morals, and honor isn't as universal as we would hope.

Re: Runner Disqualified After Claiming 2nd Place in Fort Lauderdale Half Marathon

#159

Post by runnr_az »

justin66 wrote: post #150
runnr_az wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A little surprised to see this on the front page of HN, but I don't think we can deny that running is probably the nerdiest of sports. Anyway, that's nice that she owned up to it. Most of the cheaters don't. As a guy who's no doubt proved my running bonafides -- 3:06 marathon pr + there's a picture of me on the Western States 100 wikipedia page -- I always wonder why people get so angry about this kind of thing. I me…

> I mean, sure, it's not cool to cheat, but this ain't the Olympics. Who gives a shit? People who value fair play and personal honor more highly than you do. (well, you asked) > Nothing is getting "stolen," Those whose rankings are affected by the cheater have had something taken from them.

"God dammit! Don't you know who I am? I finished 355th at the North Face 50 Mile National Championships!"

I mean... on some level, I get you. On another, though, I can assure you that no one cares about your marathon time or finishing place, unless you're at an elite level.

Re: Runner Disqualified After Claiming 2nd Place in Fort Lauderdale Half Marathon

#160

Post by mst »

timdaub wrote: post #66
gabemart wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I commend your call to sympathy. I don't like taking a drive-by, salacious interest in a story that doesn't affect me in the least, but will probably have serious, perhaps devastating consequences for the person involved for a long time professionally. I also think it's worth pointing out that the original article, while using photos of the person involved, never uses their full name, so is to some extent not google-…

> while using photos of the person involved, never uses their full name, so is to some extent not google-able Wat? Clearly her name is exposed in the Strava screenshot. Took me exactly 2mins to find significant details about her in the blog post (also: if not, you can easily reverse-image-search her runner photos). It's great to have her disqualified from the race, she clearly cheated. Putting the whole story on the…

> Wat?

I believe the idea is that, given the runner's name doesn't appear in the text, googling said name from cold should not produce that article.

I think that counts as "to some extent not google-able".

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