Santa Rosa Marathon cheat disqualifed after crossing the line first.

Where does it say anything except the lady crossed too early and missed the mats. Where is the quote from her saying "yay I won" ????!!!! This is someone who either made a mistake it has mental health problems. No one tries to win a race at 2:45 when they are a 4 hour marathoner at Boston and their husband is finishing in 5 hours.

I see a snafu. I see NO proof of intent to cheat here.

Quit chasing ghosts

cheese louise wrote:

Who wouldn't feel cheated by the description of the outcome in the article? Someone doesn't actually run the marathon, "wins", and then the article makes it sound like she was the one who was cheated out of something by some glitch.

Yeah, it's lame, and no, it's not going to get Boller any clicks. But seriously, what did she expect? The article was written by recent college grad who free-lances between shifts at Starbucks. She probably didn't have a lot of time, especially with the DSQ. It reads as she wrote it up with the cheater as winner, got a garbled explanation and not much information on the real winner. She probably paid more attention to the men because this year they finished far enough ahead that she had time to interview them. (A couple of years ago, Julia Stamps Mallon finished first over all.)

Even so, I have to agree that Boller could have handled it better. She's all in on the social-media-for-clicks-and-profit game. She should know how to get her narrative out there without sounding whiny or entitled.

The sad fact is that even if Bernstein and Woodward had written that article, nobody would have read it, and she wouldn't have gotten more clicks. And really, that's what it's all about: the clicks:

Anybody who doesn't run every inch of a race shouldn't cross the finish line. Period. Pretty simple concept.

She had A blond moment wrote:

I see a snafu. I see NO proof of intent to cheat here.

Ya. I'll reserve judgement. Maybe intended to cheat. Maybe not.

My problem was with the reporter who made it sound like she ran a legit race but was disqualified due to technicalities.

And I saw no problem with Caroline's comment on the article.

I know Wendy personally and can't imagine in any way that she was intentionally trying to "win" this race. She could be considered a bit spacey and probably didn't realize that she was coming in before any other woman. On her FB she doesn't say anything about her own finish, but she was trying to support her husband in finishing his first full marathon.

And for someone who said she is a new mom, she has 3 grown kids and about 7 grandkids. She is seriously not the kind of person that I would ever imagine cheating on purpose.

Sometimes when woman age and become grandmothers they go through a period where they want to win a marathon or run Boston. It is an odd but common condition that usually lasts between 4-6 months. Unfortunately this lady had already run Boston so nothing left but to win one.

People rarely follow through on this but every so often.

The jet lag probably put this one over the top

Marathonapausal condition wrote:

Sometimes when woman age and become grandmothers they go through a period where they want to win a marathon or run Boston. It is an odd but common condition that usually lasts between 4-6 months. Unfortunately this lady had already run Boston so nothing left but to win one.

People rarely follow through on this but every so often.

The jet lag probably put this one over the top

Aaaaannnnnnd, that's a wrap. Let's go people, nothing left to see...I'm not saying you have to go home you just can't stay here.

BTW-if we start up an office pool I think it will come out that she didn't actually cross the finish line but walked by, with her number in her jacket, close enough to trip the time.

the plot thickens wrote:

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/sports/4382404-181/santa-rosa-marathon-womens-winner?page=0?gallery=4379659

From comments section at the end of the article:

"Enfant Terrible • 27 minutes ago

Waitaminute, Jennings' story still doesn't add up. The half-marathon started an hour after the marathon. If she opted to do the half-marathon at the 6.something mile point, she should have come into the finish long before any of the half-marathoners finished. But she hit the finish line at just the right time to qualify for Boston and the Olympic Trials. I call shenanigans.

And let's have a picture of the real female winner, Caroline Moller, OK?"

"Jennings was announced as the first female finisher of the marathon upon her arrival at the finish line, and one race official said she confirmed twice immediately afterward that she had run the full race.

In a post-race interview with a reporter, Jennings also did not correct the inaccuracy when asked multiple times about her 'win.'"

the plot thickens wrote:

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/sports/4382404-181/santa-rosa-marathon-womens-winner?page=0?gallery=4379659

The reporter is still going with the "checking in" thing. Can't someone explain chips to her?

And you are who to make this comment? ? Hopefully a troll.

Jennings has ran Boston 4 times she knows the rules.

Congratulations Ms Boller.

Read the article:

Caroline came in 8th at Western States, set a Marathon PR, so cut her some slack.

This has got to be the weirdest thread I've ever read on lrc, and that's saying something. Why in the world would that lady cheat so blatantly? And congrats to the real winner.

So Weird wrote:

This has got to be the weirdest thread I've ever read on lrc, and that's saying something. Why in the world would that lady cheat so blatantly? And congrats to the real winner.

Because the lady was not cheating. Everyone on this site is so eager to call out people for "cheating" when the people just are troubled and make a mistake. The race director and timing people caught the error and corrected it promptly as they should. The real winner got all she deserved less a moment or two The other lady clearly has mental health.

But hey pillorying her and calling her names on an internet site are likely to deter if not cure her mental issues so keep it up.

There is a little bit of Ken Stillman in all of you. So quick to caste dispersions on your fellow runners instead of having some sympathy. Sad.

What kind of mental health issue, you think?

I have to admit, I'm puzzled. It seemed at first like a simple mistake, but then her comments after the race don't support that. Didn't she also mention her Boston marathons to the journalist? It's mentioned in the article that she ran Boston a few times. How do they know that?

Kindness matters wrote:

So quick to caste dispersions...

Caste dispersions? What's that: "Dalits, go home! Go home now!!!"

It's "cast" and it's "aspersions."

ASPERSIONS = disparaging remarks.

The rest of what you say makes sense of an otherwise baffling situation.

the plot thickens wrote:

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/sports/4382404-181/santa-rosa-marathon-womens-winner?page=0?gallery=4379659

the Press Democrat gives the story to a staff writer rather than a stringer whose day job is brewing coffee at Starbucks.

I give them kudos for following up and putting the winner in the spotlight, even if she did also dig up some dirt on the marathon organizers. Having three of your faster guys get lost doesn't sound good.