That has already been discussed here
RE: 12/12/2017 12:24AM - in reply to Tell us more about switchbacks
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Tell us more about switchbacks wrote:
A big fan............. wrote:
Also, why did he feel the need to tell about the switchback cutting at speedgoat? Everybody knows that is how they race in europe, the race was part of a series of races with all the others in europe and Killian was never told before the race about switchbacks. I am sure there are switchbacks at Hardrock that he has won 4 times since and I have never heard of him trying to cut any of them.
Everybody knows? First I heard you're allowed to cut switchbacks at races in Europe. Is this accurate?
I read this from 2012 and it sounds like the RD was 100% star struck and gutless. The right call would be full DQ. How is a race 50k if you're allowed to cut switchbacks and still get the official win, but not prize money? Gutless.
From Irunfar interview
"So what I did… Kilian ended up crossing the finish line first in 5:14, which is ridiculously fast. Rickey Gates was 5:18 and change. I told Kilian when he initially crossed the line, “Hey, I may have to disqualify you because of cutting the course.” Kilian is a very gracious athlete and he said, “Yes, it’s ok. I understand. It’s ok.” I was pretty psyched about that. He was really gracious. He’s a great kid, because I’m old. At the same time, I waited a little while to decide what the final decision would be. I talked to 10 to 20 people. I got their insight and input. The most important input I got was probably was something that Pikes Peak did years ago when a few Europeans came over and they cut corners. I don’t know if they technically won the race, but they cut the corners. They didn’t disqualify them, but what they did do is they didn’t pay them the prize money. I said, “You know what? That’s probably a reasonably fair thing to do.”
To be honest with you, I hated to do this. I hate to be in this position. Some people will think I’m a bad guy for the decision that I made, but honestly, I think it was kind of the right decision. I couldn’t say “DQ. You’re out. Done. See ya next year maybe? Maybe not.” I really want this race to continue as a Skyrunning race. I want it to continue. I made the ultimate decision of going with what Pikes Peak did, and we paid Rickey Gates as the winner. Rickey also beat Kilian to the top, so he gets $1,000 bonus. He was also under the record. So Ricky gets $4,000, and, unfortunately, Kilian doesn’t get any money. I still gave Kilian Jornet the win, because as a Skyrunning Series program, I really want to keep that. I don’t want to diss him out on that whole thing. That’s kind of how they race in Europe and in all the other races, so I let that ride.
Kilian, again, was a very gracious athlete. He’s a really cool guy. Rickey felt good about it. A lot of the other spectators that know what my decision was, they thought that was good. Ultimately, the bottom line is that Rickey Gates will get the course record, technically the course record, because he followed the course. Again, it’s such a hard decision to make. Kilian was very gracious about it. So it is what it is."
Do you even know who Karl Meltzer is?