OC Marathon Winner DQ for Unauthorized Assistance

Don’t think this is true. But who really knows. Who took the videos?

The marathon staff on the bikes took the videos. Videos show Esteban getting aid from bike. They also show Esteban skipping water stations. He’s lying to everyone that he got bike aid due to the volunteers “not having water for him”. The bike aid was planned from the very beginning. DQ - easy decision.

He really got banned from the OC Marathon? Dang… plenty of other races out there I guess.

So the kid was going to get banned sooner or later anyways. I agree he’s lying for sure about the water stations. This is actually unbelievable - ban him from all races. Take accountability for your mistake.

Lead bikes took videos and sent it to the race director. 2nd place was apparently asked about it later from the race officials. I’m sure he confirmed the cheating. Who wouldn’t?

The story has gone national. ABC, Yahoo Sports, FoxSports, NY Post and USA Today are reporting the story.

Of course some of these idiots, as clueless as they are, are saying things like 'son gets disqualified from marathon after dad gives him water.'

As far as I can see, the media is doing a horrible job telling this story. Media makes it seem like the DQ guy only got a cup of water from family and giving the victim card to the DQ guy. They are making it seem like a sad story about a dad trying to help his kid out. Quite ridiculous. I have little doubt that the DQ guy knew the rules and knew he needed this aid to win. The media has no idea how big of an advantage having your own biker gives you, but Elite runners all know.

The OC bikers reported the aid with video support

Real Cheaters of the OC Marathon.

Lol there's a video in there that clearly shows an aid station guy trying to give him water and Prado just avoids him. So his plan from the start was to use Daddy E-Bike for fueling and pacing. Sorry bud, you ran a great time but no sympathy for the DQ. Hope this kid uses it as fuel to bounce back for the next one and get an official, accredited PR

The fact that he’s blaming the water stations and volunteers for his cheating is just a petty thing to do. Take the L and move on. The kid is trying to play the victim card and throwing everyone else under the bus and it’s actually hurting his image even more.

Sore loser. If he’s so sure of himself, just run another race and win. It’s not the end of the world. Cheaters tend to fall into the victim role to justify their actions.

Agree. The media is doing a TERRIBLE job. The media is making the Race Organizers look like they didn’t do their job properly. It’s funny that his mom and dad are so involved in all this though. He’s supposed to be grown man at his age no? 24 years old? Obviously still daddy’s little boy still

People are saying in Facebook forums that Jason and Esteban knew each other before the race. Esteban knew he needed this aid against Jason and premeditated the bike support 💯 . No wonder Esteban so salty and is trying to get the title back lmao 🤣

Jason ran a 2:19 marathon in 02/2024 so my bet is that he’ll crush Esteban next time🍿

I have run a marathon when the people weren't handing out the water for me because I was at the front.. the biker biking with me refused to bike ahead and tell station to be ready because he thought it was breaking the rules.. in situations like this everyone else is getting water that isn't offered to the leaders and everyone should be BQ'd based on the rules. So I understand the situation. But if you win a race more people will be watching. If you are off the podium no one gives a crap. (Picked up gu in a thon a got 4th in) Ran with people getting a fluid bottle from the gf in the top 50 of a silver label race...

Situations like this for me: if the officials saw this and applied the rule to every running even Mr/Mrs 6 hour marathoner great otherwise you don't apply the rule.

Can you send me the FB link?

It’s moments like this when we should all stop and take a minute to consider what else the media is misreporting. It seems like whenever there is a story about something on which I am somewhat knowledgeable, the media f*#ks it all up and gets it wrong, which leads me to question their reporting on pretty much everything else.

Caveat Emptor…

Targeted assistance is the term used when officials talk about the kind of aid not allowed. It's generally applied to elites/sub-elites types to make sure of an even playing field. I don't think it ever has in the past, or would ever, be applied to a mid or back of the packer unless there was clear and repeated interference to other runners on the course.

But it has become more and more an issue with some newbie type sub-elites including a couple runners trying to get a Oly Qualifier. There was that girl couple years somewhere in Charlotte area and just this past November at Philly..
OC Marathon Winner DQ for Unauthorized Assistance - LetsRun.com.

I think that was the issue here. It has become more frequent and bubbling up on RD's radar.

I think the call was a good one.

A lot of opinions on who knew and said what and when, but it seems to me whoever was video taping the bike pacing was not a race official and figured the right action was to bring it to the race directors' attention at the finish. Had they phoned it in, perhaps the RD would have been able to get himself or some else on course to issue a warning instead. Couple responses on here stating RD must issue a warning before DQ. He does not. Read the previous Philadelphia DQ thread.

I believe this guy might have had a couple water stops where they were not paying attention when he came thru. Its happen to me more than once. It's frustrating when volunteers are screwing around. As an RD you try to get good help but sometimes that's the way it goes. You can't be every at once and some people just don't take the task seriously. Yes, there was the video of water stops where he passed despite them waiting to hand out water. Both claims can be true. Also seems clear the bike and water bottles were a pre-planned strategy.

I also believe he genuinely did not know the rules. I checked out this marathon website and they do have an elite/sub-elite invited program. So, he probably applied for and got a comped entry. Considering his time and fact there was no prize money other than course record, probably no technical meeting. Maybe just an email. People don't read emails. And some people skip the technical meeting.

I myself did something like in my marathon youth. It wasn't until I started racing with a club, going to regional championship races and helping out with club races did I get to know the rules better.

This wasn't the first occurrence of a DQ for targeted assistance and won't be the last. Hopefully it serves as warning to others. Know the rules or ask if you are not sure.