Another run across America underway - is it legit? Boots currently on the ground

Several articles on this regarding massive cheating

This is Will's latest Facebook post. Very interesting indeed. Goodge was having a very rough day yesterday, so perhaps he tapped out? Why else would he say "If the challenge continues"?

FORMAL STATEMENT
Dear Jogle/Lejog on Foot page:
Thank you for your interaction in the Will Goodge Transcon story. Due to a major development overnight, my investigation in the matter is now complete. I shall be returning to England to file my report with the relevant parties and shall not be commenting publicly on this matter again in an informal capacity.

I have removed all posts on the matter from this page, which will now no longer be covering the event.

If the challenge continues, I urge the world's distance running community to be vigilant about WGs data remaining clean. It has been nigh on immaculate since I have been observing him, and I confirm the athlete I have seen in person is light years removed from the athlete portrayed to you on social media and Strava.

Upon my departure, should you see his speeds pick up again and heart rate drop, to a very low, physiologically impossible BPM, please question it loudly, and do not, I repeat NOT, simply write it off as a "tech fail". This is what they want you to believe. For those unclear, this includes Kms of sub 6 minutes under 150 bpm, sub 7 minutes under 140bpm, and sub 8 under 130bpm. In particular, look out for Kms in the 90-120bpm range when the subject is claimed to be running. This is clearly not possible, and is most certainly NOT a tech fail.
Also, I have become extremely concerned about the pastoral care the athlete is getting from his crew. There seems to be minimal leadership or direction, and the crew doing 6 mile relays leaves WG uncared for and unmonitored for periods of nearly an hour and a half, in sometimes very cold and wet conditions when he is exhausted, and could run into a myriad of difficulties at any time. This lacks all semblance of good, proper, responsible code of conduct by the crew, and places the athlete in a terribly vulnerable state.

It is a complete mystery to us all why the athlete is not chaperoned more on this mission, given such a large crew. Perhaps he had company for 40 minutes yesterday in the middle of the day, out of 12 hours in cold and wet weather.

This is a fast-moving and important story, and I look forward to bringing the world my findings after I have filed my report, and been given full advice on the matter, legal or otherwise.

With best regards,

Sincerely,

WVL Cockerell

So he either has enough to call the whole thing a sham when he returns, or they threatened serious legal action? I don’t know this whole thing is bizarre, and WC’s dramatized language makes it impossible to decipher.

probably running alone these last three days bc his team has been on the phone with lawyers..

I’m completely confused by willvic’s posting since arriving in the US…it’s all over the place.

I am now very intrigued. Looks like Willvlc was just pretending to be a double agent while he was in America so he could get back to safety first with what he found. I'll analyze the last few days of Goodge's data to see if it is different from the first weeks I've already analyzed which didn't show any issues. But from what Willvlc posted cryptically, he has found something majorly wrong with this transcon. I have a theory......

Regardless, this YouTube episode on Sunday should be a doozy

None of this speculation really matters.

Anyone with a brain who wanted to make sure their record attempt was unquestionably legitimate would film the entire thing.

The fact that this runner is trying to prove the legitimacy of the run by obfuscating the run through watch data is proof that the attempt is not legitimate.

Yes, Will C's demeanor once he arrived in the U.S. was all over the place. Despite his initial plan to witness a week of runs, after the first day on the scene he was like "All is good, nothing is suspect, will probably go home in a couple of days and give it my blessing." But by the 2nd or 3rd day, there were clear glimpses of the old Will mixed in with this version, so I knew he wasn't completely under their spell.

I thought it was interesting that Goodge was basically left completely alone, in potentially hazardous situations, for the bulk of his runs while Will C. was there. Maybe it was just me, but I had the impression he had a crew of ultrarunners with him on the scene close by, running with him for much of this. Was that happening at all before Will C. arrived? I haven't watched any videos so I don't know.

The data. I was late coming to this thread, but I took a good look at it and understand exactly what Will C. is referring to. Anyone who dismisses this as "wrist based HR data is inaccurate" doesn't get it. I'll hold off on this discussion until Will returns with his report.

Good point. It shouldn't have to come down to HR data.

Oh my. I won’t weigh in on whether the attempt is legit, but either way, I hope WG is OK.

(I’m willing enough to take this at face value)

I have two theories. Theory 1 is that Willvlc is an insane loon who still can't give it up. Theory 2 required that the last few days of data are materially different from the first few weeks. Will see what I find when I analyze it.

this could be a hollywood produced film or documentary. So many ups and downs, plot twists, hero's and villains, double agents too. And they keep us coming back during commercial breaks.

Meh. Bank on it giving rise to at least 3 podcasts tho.

I am going to be a disappointed viewer of this series if I found out that he and the crew were indeed cheating but we don't get to know how. It would be like watching Shawshank Redemption but only learning that Andy escaped and nothing else.

Am I missing something?

Seems like the runner cleaned up his act when observed, and is no longer in the mental or physical position to finish to feat because he was logging legitimate miles while under observation. The observer expects that the runner will DNF. Once the effort is dropped there's really no need to continue the investigation. However, the investigator has cautioned that if the runner continues and his data is again "unique" then the community again needs turn a critical eye towards the situation.

What am I missing?

Bizarre indeed. Cockerell was vigorously defending his position for the first 12 pages of this thread, and most people were on his side based on comments and the upvote-downvote ratios. Yet on page 12 he says he “lost the room” and finally on page 15 “Obviously I will and never can win on here.”

I think you got it.

Will C's first day there was legit so he thought "nothing to see here" but things started to unravel bit by bit each day thereafter. Now he was given indication that the event is called off and is returning home, but cautioned everyone to be vigilant in case they decide to continue after Will's absence. Just speculation, but I think that's it in a nutshell.

WG is continuing on though according to Instagram..