Her whole social media thing is to support her "Be Fearless" summits where women pay a bunch of money to hear pep talks about how to succeed in business/career. She deserves any viral bashing for making theft of services into a moment of her fearlessness. And as someone who did several years as a race director, the biggest nightmare is someone banditing a race who then has a medical emergency. You do not know if they have any allergies, no emergency contact, etc.
I am also really tired of people who think that jumping into a distance race with no training is something they deserve praise for. It is a free country. If you want to run a half marathon with no training, go for it. But it is an extremely stupid thing to do. The odds of getting injured on the course are pretty good. And even if you make it through the race, what exactly is the message? Determination is everything and f$ck preparation?
I think someday people are going to have to recognize that, for people like the original OP, all publicity is good publicity. A lot of people (myself included) find influencers and influencer culture sad, banal, empty, pathetic... choose your preferred terms. But if you think that, then you do yourself no favors by posting about influencers. Even if you think you're making fun of them, you're spreading their reach. Just ignore them and they'd go away within a year, but even people who don't like them can't help but post about them and spread their message.
Whilst I agree with what you've said as a general rule, I've posted about this particular influencer, Alexa Curtis, because I think what she's doing is unusually harmful to the impressionable, callow girls and young women who comprise the majority of her audience/fan base.
Curtis isn't just a run-of-the mill social media "influencer," she's a professional ambassador of the "personal branding" business/industry whose career is all about encouraging and convincing other young women and teenage girls to follow in her footsteps - and teaching them exactly how to go about it.
Curtis' company - Be Fearless Inc. - and the line of courses, events, coaching sessions, newletters and so on sold under the Be Fearless banner are all aimed at getting insecure, easily-influenced girls and young women - who are still in their most pliable formative years and are desperately trying to "find themselves" and figure out their path and purpose in life - to view themselves principally as commodities and brands to be publicly displayed, looked at and talked about on social media and marketed to corporations and strangers for likes, followers and money. And she's giving them step-by-step instructions on how to to package, pitch and peddle themselves on social media and directly to corporations through email.
Amongst the materials Curtis puts out under the Be Fearless banner is a weekly newsletter, "Stay Fearless with Alexa Curtis or Die Trying." The titles of the three most recent issues were: Does Everyone Need A Personal Brand? POV: You Hate Posting About Yourself - How to Get Over That Fear The Proper Way to Brand Yourself - Alexa's Personal Branding Tips
The "Stay Fearless" newsletters and some other Alexa Curtis materials use a tagline that's worrying because it gives girls and young women the perncious message that "living fearlessly" goes hand in hand with holding nothing back when creating a "personal brand" and posting on social media:
We help you lead your most Fearless Unfiltered Life
The Austin event she referenced was in February, not March. If she xeeted about it then, it didn't go viral and she deleted it. (Search query: from:Alexa_Curtis until:2023-04-01) I think it's possible for an untrained woman to run a 1:41, but I would expect her to have an exceptional physique and be strong in other athletic pursuits. She recently posted herself performing beginner-level squats and kettlebell rows: Last year she said she was planning on running a full marathon in 2024 (). The way for her to save face is to apologize, make a donation, and post a comparable performance in a marathon or another half.
Roads are paid for by tax payer (which she is) money, so she is free to run wherever/whenever she wants. Nothing illegal about it. She shouldn't take any medals or food (except water) but there is no indication that she did.
Overall, I think her time might be better invested joining a nice CrossFit box and working out FOR REAL.
The Austin event she referenced was in February, not March. If she xeeted about it then, it didn't go viral and she deleted it. (Search query: from:Alexa_Curtis until:2023-04-01) I think it's possible for an untrained woman to run a 1:41, but I would expect her to have an exceptional physique and be strong in other athletic pursuits. She recently posted herself performing beginner-level squats and kettlebell rows: Last year she said she was planning on running a full marathon in 2024 (). The way for her to save face is to apologize, make a donation, and post a comparable performance in a marathon or another half.
Roads are paid for by tax payer (which she is) money, so she is free to run wherever/whenever she wants. Nothing illegal about it. She shouldn't take any medals or food (except water) but there is no indication that she did.
Overall, I think her time might be better invested joining a nice CrossFit box and working out FOR REAL.
The event got a permit to shutdown the road for the race/event. You can't run or walk down this road the same way that couldn't just go drive your car down this road at the same time the event is taking place.
While the chances of something bad happening are low, it's still a liability and safety issue. May not seem like a big deal, but it becomes a big deal when something happens. So just play by the rules, don't bandit.
I'm somewhat confused by the post on X. Is she saying she ran the whole thing at 7:43/mile? Because in the photo it looks like she is with the walkers. Of course, it is possible to start way in the back with the walkers and then pass them all along the way to 1:40 half-mary, but that seems unlikely.
It's quite possible that the thief is also a liar.
The Austin event she referenced was in February, not March. If she xeeted about it then, it didn't go viral and she deleted it. (Search query: from:Alexa_Curtis until:2023-04-01) I think it's possible for an untrained woman to run a 1:41, but I would expect her to have an exceptional physique and be strong in other athletic pursuits. She recently posted herself performing beginner-level squats and kettlebell rows: Last year she said she was planning on running a full marathon in 2024 (). The way for her to save face is to apologize, make a donation, and post a comparable performance in a marathon or another half.
Roads are paid for by tax payer (which she is) money, so she is free to run wherever/whenever she wants. Nothing illegal about it. She shouldn't take any medals or food (except water) but there is no indication that she did.
Overall, I think her time might be better invested joining a nice CrossFit box and working out FOR REAL.
You should see how much it costs to shut down those roads so people can run down them. Probably somewhere between $10K and $40K for this event.
It's kind of crazy how much the race scene has changed in a fairly short time. Before the influencer thing really became a thing, I knew people who would occasionally bandit low key races to get a workouts in. It was a custom among some of the competitive guys on the local circuits. It was never a big deal, and nobody, including the RDs, cared about it. Bandits were always respectful. They wouldn't cross the finish line or impede the race in any way. They'd just hop in to get their workouts in and depart without a trace.
Not true for me. I got chewed out for banditing a race back in the 90s and never did it again. I didn't think it was a "big deal" until an RD let me have it. Now I know it's a big deal and a problem that many just don't understand until they work for events.