Post about women banditing Brooklyn half marathon going viral on X

with 2.5 million views, this will just encourage more people to bandit races. no bueno.

Looks like she pretends to be some kind of life coach.

Yeah, she's single and childless.

Fortunately, most people are too lazy to run more than a few meters.

The only time I did anything like that was when I helped pace a friend during a marathon. I jumped in around mile 6 and ran with him until like 23, then bailed. I dont know if that counts but I didnt see an issue with it.

I shouldn't be surprised but I am about who dumb people actually are:
Sure you can bandit a race if you don't want to pay and don't care about an official result but why on earth would you post about that publicly?

People might get a lifetime ban and a potential job loss might be in the works too.

If she ran a 743 pace and is behind people that are walking, did she really bandit? Maybe she ran it after the race was over, or…

"Sorry, we have to fire you. You can't just jump in a race like that."

lmao what? Absolutely never happening unless you maybe work in the running industry.

She should be called out. It will be a great learning experience for her. It is stealing, plain and simple. It is theft.

One thing she can do is just delete the tweet. “ oops, I didn’t realize I was stealing. I’m sorry. Thank you for the heads up”

I felt the same way as an NHL season ticket holder, when I’d see and read about people commenting about buying a cheap seat, then moving down to a lower bowl seat they think is unoccupied during the game.

THEFT, pure and simple. You break it to them gently but directly. Some don’t see it, until they think about it a little.

You are definitely right about that. Kate Carter still works for Runners World. But oh yeah, she was "cleared" of cheating because laughable governing body found she didn't "intend" to cheat. Lol. Whatever.

athleticsweekly.com

Kate Carter cleared of cheating at London events - AW

England Athletics investigation finds “no intention to deceive” by prominent running journalist

Open link

I think most of this was made typical influencer made up garbage. 7:43 pace with no training is a bit of a stretch. Then she says she ran Austin Half last year and I don’t see her in the results. Maybe she banditted that one too!

Recent actions from Runner’s World UK suggest you won’t even lose your job in the running industry for transgressions like this.

You're upset that people are sneaking into unoccupied good seats, and have been doing so since the dawn of ticket sales?

For the record, I do believe it's dumb to post about this and she'll likely receive some deserved backlash, mostly for being dumb enough to post about it, á la Matt Choi's bandit stunt. I truly don't care if you bandit a race. Let me know when the amount of bandits is large enough to impact anything at all.

Imagine experiencing a breakup, having your business fail, losing all of your savings and then getting into debt... and thinking that you came out on top because you ran a 1:40 half marathon.

Posting in what will doubtless be a civil thread with thoughtful and nuanced discussion!

Yes, theft has been going on since the dawn of human history.

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: https://twitter.com/Alexa_Curtis/status/1778057534122701248
Last year she said she was planning on running a full marathon in 2024 (https://twitter.com/Alexa_Curtis/status/1711403511148057015). The way for her to save face is to apologize, make a donation, and post a comparable performance in a marathon or another half.

To make it easier for everyone to see what she wrote on Twitter/X that Wejo found "inspiring" here's the whole thing:

I just ran 13.1 miles for the Brooklyn half marathon at a 7.43 minute pace. I didn’t walk at all. I cried during a lot of it. I went to bed at 10 PM.

I didn’t sign up for this race. I just asked the security where it started and where it ended and jumped in. No one watched me cross the finish line this year.

I didn’t charge my AirPods last night. I didn’t train for this. The most I’ve run in the past 13 months was 6 miles. I had 2 glasses of wine last night.

Last March I ran the Austin half marathon, was living with the guy I thought I’d be with for the rest of my life: running another business that failed miserably at the end of 2023. I thought I had it all figured out at 25: sick apartment, dope boyfriend, savings, a business with someone, great friends.

I ran past my first apartment in Brooklyn, where I lived when I was so broke and blogging living with 5 roommates this morning. Over the past year I’ve faced the worst heartbreak in business and my personal life. Moved to a different country. Got f***** over so bad in business. Got out of debt and got back into a bit of it.

The only person I relied on to show up and cross that finish line today was myself.

When people ask me what being fearless is, it’s like asking security where the race starts and where it ends. Everything in the middle, all the bull***, the pain, the trauma you’re gonna experience in your life is nothing because you started running and you’re not going to stop just because you cross that finish line. You never have it all figured out but you rely on yourself because that’s all you have in life: you.

People will disappoint you and life will and you will make mistakes but you never stop running.

I don't get what so inspiring about this. Please someone enlighten me as to which parts exactly are inspiring - and why.

Coz to me it just seems like a bunch of banalities posted by a 25-year-old former fashion blogger turned "influencer" trying to draw attention to herself, her brand - Be Fearless - and her various corporate-sponsored businesses, which include (or have included) "Be Fearless Inc. A Reinvented Career Brand"; a short-lived show on Radio Disney called "Fearless Everyday"; Alexa Curtis Presents, which offers online courses pitched at young women such as "Your Fast Track to A Personal Brand" and "She's Here! The Personal Brand E-Course"; and in-person events called "Be Fearless Summits"- where according to the marketing materials, members of the hoi polloi willing and able to cough up $250 a head can see/listen to "Celebrities, C-Suite execs and entrepreneurs... along with tons of other ambitious professionals "

For $17.00 a month, Curtis also offers membership in "FEARLESS FOR LIFE" (caps hers), which provides "Access to the ambitious private community, one 30-minute coaching call with Alexa Curtis, discounts to Be Fearless events yearly"