Another Serial Cheater taken down by Race Buster and Marathon Investigation!

DunRunny12 wrote:

I just included a random Uncle Rico quote in my post and then I see you reply here to none other than Uncle Rico. It's Friday morning and my mind is officially blown.

True story, last night my wife was watching re-runs of ER. And Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite was one of the patients!!! He got raped in prison and contracted AIDS.

I like this honest athlete's running style better than Derek's, but Derek seems more thorough in his analysis.

Vote 4 Pedro wrote:

DunRunny12 wrote:

I just included a random Uncle Rico quote in my post and then I see you reply here to none other than Uncle Rico. It's Friday morning and my mind is officially blown.

True story, last night my wife was watching re-runs of ER. And Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite was one of the patients!!! He got raped in prison and contracted AIDS.

I like this honest athlete's running style better than Derek's, but Derek seems more thorough in his analysis.

You guys need to stop with this today. It's too much...I feel like I gotta go watch Napoleon Dynamite 5 times in a row now to do this day its justice.

I can't wrap my head around why people do stuff like this. I mean, if you're a professional, you can't cut a course as you're likely being watched closely. If you're not a professional, then literally no one cares what your time is except you. I'd like to BQ someday, but what do I get out of cheating to get it? The accomplishment itself is the thing to be desired.

Maybe there are people who seek validation from their social network followers, but wouldn't the feelings of shame from knowingly being a fraud be worse than just not having a BQ?

fatbody wrote:

I can't wrap my head around why people do stuff like this. I mean, if you're a professional, you can't cut a course as you're likely being watched closely. If you're not a professional, then literally no one cares what your time is except you. I'd like to BQ someday, but what do I get out of cheating to get it? The accomplishment itself is the thing to be desired.

Maybe there are people who seek validation from their social network followers, but wouldn't the feelings of shame from knowingly being a fraud be worse than just not having a BQ?

I think you are way overthinking about reasons. Cheating is an innate human quality, there doesn't have to be sensibility or logic in it. For example, in the cycling world you see talented pros like Romain Bardet, Nibali, and Moscon all got caught on TV footage holding onto cars at high speed while in the middle of a race in order to cheat. There were cameras all around and they still cheated and got caught big time.

I would still like to see the Strava data from this Ed guy before making a judgement on him. Seems like there have been some miscommunications but there is still suspicious splits in the race data.

fatbody wrote:

I can't wrap my head around why people do stuff like this. I mean, if you're a professional, you can't cut a course as you're likely being watched closely. If you're not a professional, then literally no one cares what your time is except you. I'd like to BQ someday, but what do I get out of cheating to get it? The accomplishment itself is the thing to be desired.

Maybe there are people who seek validation from their social network followers, but wouldn't the feelings of shame from knowingly being a fraud be worse than just not having a BQ?

That's the thing I would love to ask a mental health expert. Like it HAS to be that validation from outside sources (ie followers/friends) vastly outweighs any internal shame.

Has cheating in running always been this "rampant" and it's just that social media is exposing it?

Is the cheating due to social media and the "pressures" and need for acceptance from others?

Maybe they do it because the "followers" will see the result and very few, if any, will question the person (ie look at splits, etc).

No matter what it is, I just don't get it.

There is no need to cut courses anymore bro BQ. Just cut elevation and run a steep down hill. In the end, you will burn same calories as someone who cut a legit marathon course to only be 20 miles

“I don't think putting a few volunteers ...”

And you’re part of the problem. You don’t think. You think volunteers grow on trees and that we have enough to spread out all over the course. Most volunteers barely pay attention or understand what it is they are supposed to be doing. Money always tight. In a typical road marathon I may spend a quarter million on police security. If someone wants to cheat bad enough then they’ll find a way no matter how well the course is designed nor how many timing mats we have.

We rapidly reach the point of diminishing returns with respect to verification measures and 98% of the runners are out there to have fun and don’t care if someone cheats.

I'd say he and everybody else was cheating just by signing up for a point to point race with what looks like almost 900 feet of drop. The course cutting was just another layer of cheat. 900 feet is about 1 age group's worth of downhills.

But Ed is just a barely hobby jogger. Cheating for what? To get a better participation medal? He is slow at 3:18 and still slow at 3:18.

Marathon RD wrote:

“I don't think putting a few volunteers ...”

And you’re part of the problem. You don’t think. You think volunteers grow on trees and that we have enough to spread out all over the course. Most volunteers barely pay attention or understand what it is they are supposed to be doing. Money always tight. In a typical road marathon I may spend a quarter million on police security. If someone wants to cheat bad enough then they’ll find a way no matter how well the course is designed nor how many timing mats we have.

We rapidly reach the point of diminishing returns with respect to verification measures and 98% of the runners are out there to have fun and don’t care if someone cheats.

If 98 percent are there to have fun, as you claim, don't even bother timing the race at all. You'll save a ton of money. I've run far too many races with volunteers playing with their phones instead of doing anything constructive. There are so many poorly run races that they don't deserve to survive (and many haven't).

There are probably all sorts of reasons people cheat at races, but I do think social media is a part of it for some. I notice that there are a lot of people on social media who are constantly posting about their race results and crediting a fitness plan, diet supplement, shake, etc. and then encouraging all their friends to "ask me how" they can get on the success. I don't know any of the details, but it reminds me of Amway, Shaklee, Avon, etc. Anyway, in these cases some of them may get carried away with self-promotion to the point of cheating and/or just making up race results.

Moo Goo wrote:

But Ed is just a barely hobby jogger. Cheating for what? To get a better participation medal? He is slow at 3:18 and still slow at 3:18.

Yeah, sure, 3:18 is slow but, if this Ed person walked up to you and, with a straight face, said he ran a 3:18 - tell me you wouldn't bust out laughing.

DunRunny12 wrote:

Obviously this is bad and he shouldn't be taking anyone's spot at Boston...but I kind of feel bad for the guy. Seems like a lot of money/work spent just to cheat your way into a race (and say you've done 50 marathons, etc.). He just seems kind of like the drunk uncle that tells you he could throw a football over them mountains.

He's not really taking anybody's spot is he? Getting in is based on time and not place.

What is the point of all his cheating, the bottom line is you can't lie to yourself unless you are a very sick individual. Also nobody really cares how many marathons you have run or how fast you have run except maybe, and I mean just maybe your spouse and maybe a couple of running buddies. If you have running buddies and I can't imagine he does because the people you train with will know that your results are not legitimate.

Big John wrote:

There are probably all sorts of reasons people cheat at races, but I do think social media is a part of it for some. I notice that there are a lot of people on social media who are constantly posting about their race results and crediting a fitness plan, diet supplement, shake, etc. and then encouraging all their friends to "ask me how" they can get on the success. I don't know any of the details, but it reminds me of Amway, Shaklee, Avon, etc. Anyway, in these cases some of them may get carried away with self-promotion to the point of cheating and/or just making up race results.

I hate that s hit. It bugs me for some reason. I'm part of a dedicated running group on facebook, so we post our times and workouts on there, which is what it is for. However, to constantly post updates on your page, every day, is just being pretentious and wanting notoriety. And it is usually the very, very slow runners who do it.

I don't like to judge runners, and say someone is a hobby jogger or just a poser. I'm a serious distance runner, but I talk and post about running where it is meant to be posted: strava, athlinks, letsrun, dedicated facebook groups. And I only post on races or certain workouts. But to post everyday, and to talk about every workout? Something isn't right with that.

People want their lives to be a success story or a glory picture, and people will do whatever it takes to acquire it, even if it means being deceitful or immoral.

Running is not a glory story, or even a goal for me. I mean I have goal races or goal times that my training is focused on, but my running is a way of life. It's a natural motion that I have a passion and love for, but it's not meant to define me as a person, or to decide whether my life is successful or not.

Jefe in the CO wrote:

Moo Goo wrote:

But Ed is just a barely hobby jogger. Cheating for what? To get a better participation medal? He is slow at 3:18 and still slow at 3:18.

Yeah, sure, 3:18 is slow but, if this Ed person walked up to you and, with a straight face, said he ran a 3:18 - tell me you wouldn't bust out laughing.

He seems like a 4:45 marathoner on a bad day, 4:00 on a good day. I'm sure the 3:18 is fake.

You know how they have biological passport for the Tour de France and Track? His Athlinks passport proves he's not capable of 3:18.

How about that 3:11?

SDSU Aztec wrote:

DunRunny12 wrote:

Obviously this is bad and he shouldn't be taking anyone's spot at Boston...but I kind of feel bad for the guy. Seems like a lot of money/work spent just to cheat your way into a race (and say you've done 50 marathons, etc.). He just seems kind of like the drunk uncle that tells you he could throw a football over them mountains.

He's not really taking anybody's spot is he? Getting in is based on time and not place.

I truly don’t know. But, as a wise rapper Tweeted recently, “In this world you either crank that soulja boy or it cranks you.”

His cheating will not save him from the Lake of Fire he's heading for.

His only hope is to repent of his evil ways and accept Lord Jesus Christ as his personal savior. Then and only then will he be able to head on the right path.

M.A.G.A...