I saw the marathon full entry at the time (I follow her on Strava). It was up for about 12 hours. I noticed that it was backwards, which made me feel like I was losing my mind. Both I and several friends looked it over and downloaded it for a closer look, at which point it became obvious that something dodgy had gone on.
Late in the evening on the day after the race (I THINK she only posted it on Monday, not immediately after the race on Sunday, probably for obvious reasons), it was deleted. None of us commented, but I do wonder if someone did, asking why it started at the finish line and finished at the start.
If it hadn't been backwards, I don't think anyone would have noticed, at least not immediately, that it was fake.
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
Reason provided:
Added info re race I saw on Strava
What’s she suppose to say? I cheated and got caught? No one ever says that.
The workflow usually goes: Ignore, claim innocence, provide more fake data, squeal about lawyers, claim it was accidental, go quiet and hope everyone forgets.
In this case there may have been some professional motivation behind it as well, she might have been planning to write something about it, participation might have granted her certain access, or maybe there's simply an unwritten expectation that an editor of runners world runs regularly.
But now she will get fired.
She will not lose her job over this. RW does not care
Can't help by laugh whenever another one of these runfluencers gets caught out by MI. The hobby jogger side of running is filled with main character syndrome. Take a look at any "mummy runs" instagram pages and it's filled with thousands of people celebrating mediocrity and putting these total losers on a pedestal.
If these dodgy operators spent the time they spent editing GPS files and writing instagram captions on actual running, they wouldn't need to fake it.
Can't help by laugh whenever another one of these runfluencers gets caught out by MI. The hobby jogger side of running is filled with main character syndrome. Take a look at any "mummy runs" instagram pages and it's filled with thousands of people celebrating mediocrity and putting these total losers on a pedestal.
If these dodgy operators spent the time they spent editing GPS files and writing instagram captions on actual running, they wouldn't need to fake it.
On the subject of runfluencers and cheating in the London Marathon... have a look at the London Marathon results from the "virtual" race in 2020. Obviously it was a strange time, and none of these results counted for anything. However, one female entrant, entered in the 18-39 age group, stood out. She posted a time just over 3 hours. It turns out that this person was 13 years old in October 2020, and the only evidence of this rather stunning feat for a child was an Instagram post where she "paced her dad" and ran a huge PR. Okay. She is now trying to be a runfluencer, running nearly an hour slower, four years later.
Sure, the virtuals meant nothing, but come on. That didn't happen. It's just grift for socials.
I saw the marathon full entry at the time (I follow her on Strava). It was up for about 12 hours. I noticed that it was backwards, which made me feel like I was losing my mind. Both I and several friends looked it over and downloaded it for a closer look, at which point it became obvious that something dodgy had gone on.
Late in the evening on the day after the race (I THINK she only posted it on Monday, not immediately after the race on Sunday, probably for obvious reasons), it was deleted. None of us commented, but I do wonder if someone did, asking why it started at the finish line and finished at the start.
If it hadn't been backwards, I don't think anyone would have noticed, at least not immediately, that it was fake.
Can you imagine coming home from the race and saying you know what I need to draw this race out online so I have some strava data. Then hoping on your computer, finding the finish line and doing all the clicks to trace the course (backwards oops) and then posting it as your data. Or was it up so fast that she had actually drawn it beforehand and had it ready to post? Or was someone else helping her cheat and posted it for her when she finished?
I saw the marathon full entry at the time (I follow her on Strava). It was up for about 12 hours. I noticed that it was backwards, which made me feel like I was losing my mind. Both I and several friends looked it over and downloaded it for a closer look, at which point it became obvious that something dodgy had gone on.
Late in the evening on the day after the race (I THINK she only posted it on Monday, not immediately after the race on Sunday, probably for obvious reasons), it was deleted. None of us commented, but I do wonder if someone did, asking why it started at the finish line and finished at the start.
If it hadn't been backwards, I don't think anyone would have noticed, at least not immediately, that it was fake.
Can you imagine coming home from the race and saying you know what I need to draw this race out online so I have some strava data. Then hoping on your computer, finding the finish line and doing all the clicks to trace the course (backwards oops) and then posting it as your data. Or was it up so fast that she had actually drawn it beforehand and had it ready to post? Or was someone else helping her cheat and posted it for her when she finished?
So from what I know of GPX Studio, I think she (or someone else, definitely a person rather than a device) drew it manually. But using that tool, tracks are extremely easy to reverse by accident, so even assuming it was drawn the right way around, this is plausible. There's a button to reverse a track on the sidebar of the tool. It's right below the button you press to type in what time you want for the run. It doesn't warn you before it reverses the course, so my theory is that she/whoever pressed that button by accident and didn't realise until it was up on Strava. Then either she noticed, or someone (like me, who saw it live) said, "Yo dawg why'd you start at the finish line?"
Can you imagine coming home from the race and saying you know what I need to draw this race out online so I have some strava data. Then hoping on your computer, finding the finish line and doing all the clicks to trace the course (backwards oops) and then posting it as your data. Or was it up so fast that she had actually drawn it beforehand and had it ready to post? Or was someone else helping her cheat and posted it for her when she finished?
So from what I know of GPX Studio, I think she (or someone else, definitely a person rather than a device) drew it manually. But using that tool, tracks are extremely easy to reverse by accident, so even assuming it was drawn the right way around, this is plausible. There's a button to reverse a track on the sidebar of the tool. It's right below the button you press to type in what time you want for the run. It doesn't warn you before it reverses the course, so my theory is that she/whoever pressed that button by accident and didn't realise until it was up on Strava. Then either she noticed, or someone (like me, who saw it live) said, "Yo dawg why'd you start at the finish line?"
Beyond that she also hopped in a car or something to skip part of the course. So deranged. Could you imagine walking into the office after hearing about this. "So I heard you cheated on your Marathon you were bragging about."
Derek? The guy who bullied an old man into killing himself? the guy who bullied anoother woman who he MIS identified? The fat loser who said he was shutting down his site and lied about it? or the guy who post on letsrun under assumed names to drive traffic?
I don’t see a problem with giving her a week, trying to follow up, and giving her another week. You never know what might occupy someone’s attention at a given time, regardless what their habits are generally.
It’s not like this is highly time-sensitive breaking news, is there some great malfeasance could occur in the intervening period, or that Derek has to worry about really losing out by being scooped by somebody. That’s not to suggest that he’s really at fault; I’d just expect him to err a little more on the side of caution.
Umm, he wrote she was provided four days to respond. She's a member of the media, an industry in which communication is the foundation.
I graduated from university with a communications degree and was a print journalist for eight years, internships included. If I went four days without checking my email, social media, I'd have been booted really fast. It was my job to stay on top of my beat, which involved communicating by social media.
maybe she doesn't want their personal business out there. If derek asked me anything after stalking me. I'd tell him to pi$$ off
Umm, he wrote she was provided four days to respond. She's a member of the media, an industry in which communication is the foundation.
I graduated from university with a communications degree and was a print journalist for eight years, internships included. If I went four days without checking my email, social media, I'd have been booted really fast. It was my job to stay on top of my beat, which involved communicating by social media.
maybe she doesn't want their personal business out there. If derek asked me anything after stalking me. I'd tell him to pi$ off
Well, she's voluntarily entered the public realm as a runfluencer-journalist. If privacy is an ultimate concern, it was a poor choice of profession.
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