Where do I even start with this?
Firstly, the information I was given (by a member of the club) related to a run I’m told was in July 2020. Not being from the club I would not have access to further info beyond that, but I was told by a trustworthy person. Iim Sure this can be verified if any members see this at any point. If this was my clubs name that was being dragged through the dirt, I would be irate! As things stand I’m just disappointed for such a friendly and sociable group of people (some damn good runners, Ben included when not cheating).
Unsure what you mean by “information from on other members in the group”. If you mean his club then fair enough, but unless we are speaking about different runs I would find it very surprising . It may also be worth wondering if Ben remembers pausing his watch before “the sting” in the buff winter trail half 2019, ducking out before the finish line (which was fair enough as it was in another number(Not something I’d do, but irrelevant here) but then as there were no results, he used the Garmin time (without the paused time added of course). There is no vendetta here aside from not liking to see cheats getting away with this sort of thing. What he did back then didn’t particularly hurt anyone, just like the 10 miler. What he has done at Berlin is bad news considering the efforts hard working runners put in to break the 3 hours without cutting corners. I wonder what he thinks about his dad missing half the mats on the course too! Are you really going to defend that as well? What about him suddenly burning double the calories per mile on his Garmin on two different runs? Care to explain this?
Regarding the second half he was already well on his way to slowing down as illustrated in my first post on this topic. He ran about a 1:36 second half last time when he ran the 3:05, so considering the speed he went off this time in first 5k or so an even worse finish was definitely on the cards. It is a moot point either way, as he didn’t bother to find out and instead skipped the mats (which were so conveniently one after the other, and perfectly positioned on the course map for him to make a sharp exit, and rejoin the course 2 mats later). I have never met anybody before who as been DQd from Berlin. What the odds of both father and son? In the same race? Come on.
No doubt his 10k PB should convert to a great marathon with the right training . I would have loved to have seen him crack the distance for real . I’m not sure if he lacks the right coaching (not really sure about his club set up, but they have had some great results recently at the distance), but cheating the system in this way is just really bloody poor to put it mildly. It just disgusts me.
Sorry to disappoint also, but he doesn’t have “another” 20 minute plus PB. He really needs to focus on getting through that 3 hour barrier first, and not run part of the race and throw in the towel.
Finally I’m not trying to damage the reputation of an athlete. He has done that to himself 100%, and people will draw their own conclusions as I’ve said previously.