Triathlete punches woman en route to win!!!

there's no veering. he's just to the right of the yellow line the whole time in the video. nice try making up the facts though.

you also are 100% claiming that they weren't close enough for an arm bar because, guess what, there was an arm bar which necessarily means they were close enough.

are you intentionally trying to sound like a moron or are you naturally this stupid?

Saul, please, you berate 'please explain' for accusing you of being the "victim" ie Alison, yet seem not to notice your own double standard by accusing "How many times has this guy posted under a different name defending himself?".

Not a very smart move.

And as for "I comment on factual, visible evidence" and "The video shows our White Knight veering from the center of the road towards his maiden" and "if he hadn't begun drifting towards her for no apparent reason", you must be watching a different video from the rest of us. On the subject of "factual, visible evidence" suggest you Google/image search "arm bar".

You were right about one thing though "The woman was plainly walking backwards", in to him. Not a very smart move.

I have sent messages to Charles and Alison telling them the video is online. I doubt those messages will get posted on their blogs but at least I know that they got to read something from someone who sees through the BS. Really sad is that they believe defamation is okay and hiding behind a blog justifies it.

Saul Goodman wrote:

On top of all of that, their bodies were never close enough to warrant an arm bar. He had plenty of room even at both of their current trajectories (certainly if he hadn't begun drifting towards her for no apparent reason, let along drifted the opposite direction) to just blast on by at 7:30 pace with no contact. But he's special. Someone dared take the race less seriously than he and he just had to make a point. Probably time for some anger management when you're clearly hitting a woman intentionally for your podunk little race.

Wow, he punched AND arm barred her? How did this guy not get arrested???

This is one of those rare instances that I hope I'm being trolled. If I met the 15 year old that kept posting under different names pretending to be Incognito-Blair-Cullen with the sole intention of making him look like the biggest douche on the planet (not to mention garner a few responses from people like me), I would shake that acne covered hand and say "well done". Truly I would have respect for you. The sad opposite side of this coin is that there is potentially an adult male out there trying to defend and/or justify an easily avoidable strike to an (admittedly clueless) woman.

I mean really, the volume of random, one-time posters in this thread with comments like "I was on the girls side until..." or "clearly you can't expect to not get hit if you're not paying attention on the course" or "[insert virulent insult towards chick here]" seems astonishing. Countless random people want to enter the thread once, leave their defense of Blair (or scolding of Alison), and never return. Kinda odd.

So I'm done feeding the trolls. If "anyone" (wink wink) wants to counter any of these points below, feel free and I'd love to hear your rationale.

-The first frame of the video in which Blair is visible, he is on the line with no one in front of him and no one approaching (evidenced by the lack of participants passing after the hit). Yet when the hit was made, he was 1-2 foot-widths inside the line. Perhaps 'veer' was incorrect, but clearly he drifted in her direction without warrant.

*After checking: Two strides out from the strike his right foot is on the yellow line. One stride after, his right foot is two foot-widths inside.

-Their bodies were far enough apart at the time that no contact was necessary. He had to reach out in order to make contact. And leaned into it. He reached out for her a stride before contact. To the genius who thinks I claimed 'they weren't close enough for an arm bar', re-read my comment, then go look up 'warrant' (the verb - in case you're still confused). And I'm terribly sorry for injecting some humor into my commentary. Arm bar is indeed incorrect, but it was the funniest sounding wrestling move that came to mind (you see, to me, Blair is as comical as a WWF wrestler in his douchey theatrics so I tried to draw a parallel connecting the two). Rather than explain any time I change semantics to make light of this ridiculous situation, whenever I refer to Blair hitting Alison shall be referred to as "the strike" moving forward.

Can't wait to see how many new one-time handles pop up in the next day with a "wow, I just saw the video and I changed stances and totally agree she was at fault now". Always good for a laugh. Won't be posting here again until someone (viably) offers some counter-arguments. Man, I love-hate being trolled.

The guy made a choice to assault another athlete. He could have chosen to yell at her, which he did. He could have chosen to have moved out of the way, which he didn't. It was a wide carriageway, so there was the opportunity to avoid contact. It would have been annoying, but it would have been possible to avoid contact. She didn't see him, but he could see her the whole way leading up to the incident. He made the choice to make contact with another person, against their will, when he had the choice not to. And that's assault. Should she have been doing what she was doing ? Of course not, she's an idiot. She is as annoying as hell. But does being an idiot give an open invitation to be assaulted ? No it doesn't. The race organisers did the right thing with the DQ. You can't allow someone to go out of their way to strike another person when they have the choice not to do so. A push, a shove, a slap, a punch, a kick, at what point does it become unacceptable ? This isn't about athletes and the heat of the moment, it's about what is acceptable as human beings. The guy did the wrong thing. By choice.

I just saw the video. Hmmm. I guess it is possible that the guy could have sidestepped at the last minute to avoid contact altogether...tough to say from that video. The woman or course is completely clueless. Walking BACKWARDS on a race course? Even after colliding with the first runner she CONTINUES to walk backwards and nearly collides with another!!?!

In any case, it wasn't a "punch" as previously suggested. I suspect the RD issued the DQ only because a bunch of yentas starting pitching fits on their blogs.

Saul,

I just saw the video a couple days ago and my stance hasn't changed.

1. Allison: walking backwards on a course in general disregard for her own safety and the safety of people around her.

2. Charles: exhausted and near the finish, avoids full-body contact by putting up his arm.

I was actually a little concerned that the video would be posted and it would show Charles decking her as we were lead to believe by Allison/RD/blogger. NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH.

These people smeared Charles under the populist guise of 'man hits woman' because they knew anyone that stood-up against this perspective would be labeled a "woman-hater" or "wife-beater." They are scumbags disguised as role-models and stand-up-citizens and I hope some degree of legal action is taken against them for the type of slander they participated in.

this

If anything he was being polite to stay out of the way of the cameras as she was prancing around and posing. She was not supposed to be on that side of the road and he was. To be kind and avoid disrupting her photo-op, he ran near the center yellow line. But she just kept cluelessly backing up into him. He did not want to veer to his left for fear of disqualification by crossing the center yellow line. So he puts up his hands while at same time telling her to stay out of the way.

I agree with other posters that she should have been disqualified twice. Once for crossing to where she shouldn't have been and another for bringing a bunch of kids through the finish line and disrupting the others trying to get by.

BTW - if it is a troll thread it's the best ever.

'nuff said.

'I am "the woman" who was shoved by Blair Cullen. I am also the woman who remembers a great race with my friends Charles and Dan. I am also the woman that asked for nothing to happen to this man when both Toughman and USAT race organizers asked me for a statement this week not just based on these photos, but also based on several spectators that told them about the story (none of whom I knew).

After several emails and phone calls this week by both Toughman and USAT, I decided to take the high road and asked them to please let this go and not do anything. That doesn't mean I don't think he was wrong -- a bruise and scratch on the left side of my back were there to prove he was. I just see him exactly the way I see most egocentric individuals who view life through their singular lens of narcissism. Despite that, it doesn't mean I wanted him to suffer. I teach my kids that two wrongs don't make a right, and that forgiveness and compassion are much better choices than vindication and retribution. That is how I truly feel and I don't even drive a prius with an Obama sticker on it! I was simply aiming for maturity, empathy (even for ), and a desire to remember what, for me, was an incredibly fun and enjoyable race.

I intentionally asked both the Toughman committee and the USAT committee NOT to penalize him too severely. I told them that I was indeed in the wrong backing into the finishing lane having crossed the line to kiss my family and friends who drove up to see me, as well as get my watch from my husband who then took a photo. However we were nowhere near the finishing chute and indeed there were several feet around us with not a single other person in either lane. According to the Commissioner of the USAT and most of the normal people who compete in these races, stopping to high five a friend, kiss a family member or take a photo are par for the course. The normal people are what keep these races alive. It's also standard to use your voice (not your body) to someone in your way and say "get out of my way." Apparently this is the 3rd time in 27 years that a man has touched a woman's body in order to complete a triathlon race. Not surprisingly, the first two times (both of which were over 10 years ago) garnered sincere apologies from the runner admitting a poor decision "in the moment."

I told the committees this past week that I forgave his actions, choosing to believe that sometimes people make decisions in a harried moment. I believed that since a rewind button is not possible he must have, in his narcissistic goal to achieve some piece of hardware, simply made a mistake.

His unapologetic letter back to Toughman after learning he was disqualified only showed the USAT that his ego is more important that being human. I wasn't even looking for an apology but it would have been nice to receive one, Here is my apology: Blair (or "anonymous"), I am sorry I backpeddled into your lane as I kissed my family and got back into the race. I do these races for very different reasons than you do, and according the USAT, I am with the majority. I asked the USAT not to mandate what they will - and then they actually asked me why I had to be "so nice" and "so forgiving". I clearly moved on but this sadly won't go away. At the end of the day, one little word would have solved this problem. '

Since one could go either way on this -- I say no DQ but that's just me -- I don't think we need to assail the character of anyone who disagrees.

I've been troubled by the course. The RD says that runners were to keep the center line to their rights. Yet the video shows all of the runners at one time or another on the wrong side (and I've seen a completely separate video that happens to show an in-coming and an out-going runner, both on the "wrong" sides.) Whichever side is correct, I don't see any cones mandating being to one side.

From BeginnerTriathlon (via SlowTwitch):

"I did this race and it was my 4th time doing it so I am familiar with the course. You are correct Cathy. You see 3 people running out in the right lane because that is the way everyone runs out. When the RD posted that runners were supposed to stay left it was the first time I heard it. I have always run out on the right and run back in on the right, and so has everyone else that I have seen. No official on the course has ever corrected me or anyone else, so quite honestly, the RD's comment makes no sense."

If that's the case, Cullen looks to be as far to "his" side as he can and would be hesitant about crossing lest he get DQed. It may seem silly in retrospect, but if one's mind has defined the course, she might not want to vary it.

Still, how did the "bruise and scratch" happen if she never fell as a result of the shove?

Someone doesn't know the meanings of assault, strike, or go out of their way.

Saul Goodman wrote:

-The first frame of the video in which Blair is visible, he is on the line with no one in front of him and no one approaching (evidenced by the lack of participants passing after the hit). Yet when the hit was made, he was 1-2 foot-widths inside the line.

-Their bodies were far enough apart at the time that no contact was necessary. He had to reach out in order to make contact. And leaned into it. He reached out for her a stride before contact.

For as long as Blair was in the video, he was ALWAYS about one foot inside the center line. I'm sorry, but what you say about him shifting is just not visible. And to your second point, he does extend his arm but doesn't lean into her. Her next step backwards (which she was taking with her left foot) was going to place her left leg in front of his right leg. He understandably extended his arm to prevent this from happening.

To me he had three options; yell, move, deflect.

Could he have yelled out to her? Yes. But would she have then instantaneously stopped backpedaling? Probably not. And he would still have likely extended his arm anticipating a collision.

Could he have shifted? Maybe. But she literally went from the shoulder to the center in approximately TWO SECONDS and in a path that was not predictable.

If someone is backing into you, given the dynamics of that scenario, deflecting them with your forearm is reasonable. The scenario is not at all like it was originally described. There was NO punch or malicious thrust toward her.

"According to the Commissioner of the USAT and most of the NORMAL people who COMPETE in these races, stopping to high five a friend, kiss a family member or take a photo are par for the course. The NORMAL people are what keep these races alive."

------------------------------------------------

ME ME ME ME. It is all about ME!!!

Funny. They locked down the thread over at ST because posters were calling out the RD for the comments he made about the punch and scratch/bruise on her face.

Is there any proof that that was actually the RD?

locked down wrote:

Funny. They locked down the thread over at ST because posters were calling out the RD for the comments he made about the punch and scratch/bruise on her face.

They wanted a trial by internet and now they've got it. On any neutral forum the girl, the RD, her "fans," will be exposed and judged guilty.