Mods, please do not delete. This deserves a reasonable discussion.
I recently received a forwarded email from someone on the "ultralist" that claims that Dean Karnazes didn't start from the starting line, but hopped onto the course from his hotel a few miles in.
I have not seen proof of the above, but the following is concrete:
Dean originally won his age group with a 3:30 and accepted the trophy for winning, but has since been removed from the results.
The official results of the Kauai Marathon are listed here:
http://results.bazumedia.com/event/results/event/event-5322
(No Dean listed).
Old, non-updated results are listed at Athlinks with Dean shown in 16th here:
http://athlinks.com/time.aspx?eventid=244588&courseid=343412
(as of 2013/Sept/9, Dean is listed as 3:30:40).
The explanation in the email is that Dean started from his hotel, jumped into the race a few miles in, and accepted his award, only to later be outed and removed from the results, but keeping the trophy. Here's the original picture from the awards ceremony, showing Dean acknowledging his age group placement and accepting his award:
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2843/9720540050_ae92761ca6_b.jpg
According to an article by the 3rd place finisher in his age group, Dean claimed to be 6 minutes late for the start, while passing him at a faster pace partway through the race:
If that were true, why was he removed from the results?
I have emailed the RD for clarification and will post his reply when I hear back.