Marathon "winners" DQ'd - more to the story?

Star wrote:

Oftenrunning52 wrote:

No way that the course meets the qualifying standards, so their win would not be valid for qualifying purposes.

It doesn't matter if the course meets qualifying standards or not.

I am just showing hard evidence that gun time is more valid than chip time when ratifying a performance.

They registered. And that was verified.

They ran the distance. They are not questioning this.

And they got DQ'd.

FIFY

I'm really confused about this thread. In all seriousness, was that poster actually Chloe?

Also, who is Rosie Ruiz?

Yes, and http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Rosie+Ruiz

Jeez, that guy who said America sucks had a point, assuming you're all Americans. It's pretty simple to just Google a name you don't know...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosie_Ruiz

So the poster was saying that Chloe isn't like Rosie Ruiz--meaning, she isn't the type to cut corners (or, as Rosie did, hop on a subway and jump in right at the end of a race).

Now, as for how that poster knew that about Chloe...that's a whole separate question. This thread is surprisingly interesting!

Were there any lead vehicles out there? If there was an official someone that saw the winners run the entire course, then this is just dumb.

Dumb justice wrote:

Were there any lead vehicles out there? If there was an official someone that saw the winners run the entire course, then this is just dumb.

I agree with Dumb justice here. #JusticeForChloeAndErik

I want to hear Erik's opinion on all of this. Surely he's seen this by now. Give him to me NOW!

Read the Entry Form wrote:

I work at a running store that puts on 80+ events a year, and we CONTINUALLY have people calling about things that are clearly printed on the entry forms that people just don't read and blindly fill out and enter.

It is the responsibility of the entrant to read ALL race related material especially as far as packet pick-up and chip timing.

They not only didn't get splits on the "winners" but without chips at the start, they only had 'unofficial' overall times.

Yes, it sucks to go through all that and not get the win, but the procedure was the same for all the other entrants that didn't win too, yet they showed up and followed the right procedures.

I do wish both first finishers the best in the future, and a costly lesson this was.

I agree with this sentiment in principle. However, 2 things are somewhat different here. (1) they applied the rules only to the winners and not to all the slower, local, runners. If you are going to enforce these rules, the 5 hr marathon runners absolutely need to be DQed as well, no ifs ands or buts; it's totally unprofessional to do otherwise and (2) If you are going to do something highly non-standard, that is essential to entering the race, like no race-day pickup, it is the race organizers responsibility to make this VERY PROMINENT on the forms AND on the website, AND in any email notification about the race (only if there are email notifications). "NO RACE DAY PICK UP" in bold on the forms, is essential, so that someone reading the form focusses on this sentence, as opposed to all the stuff that is the same for all marathon forms. If this wasn't bolded and highlighted then it's the organizers fault (in a realist sense) but still the runners fault (in a legal sense). There is definitely blame on both sides here.

I ran this race and ended up chatting with this couple after the race. They are college runners who just finished their track season a week ago and came to the race together. Extremely nice young couple who should have proud parents. Impressive runners as well.

I didn't hear about this controversy until today.

I would bet that they were focused on final exams and track and didn't give this extracurricular race much thought since signing up months ago. Unfortunately, it sounds like they weren't aware of the packet pickup details despite being well documented on the website.

Great Performance. Honest mistake. Tough Lesson.

I feel bad for them actually. I wish them the best in the future. I'm sure there will be other wins if they choose to race this distance.

As has already been mentioned we discussed this for two whole hours. In the end we concluded that their post race workouts were so unimpressive that they couldn't have won the race in a regular way.

Starved Rock County Race Dir wrote:

In the end we concluded that their post race workouts were so unimpressive that they couldn't have won the race in a regular way.

As a coach with much experience with these two athletes, this unfortunately fits my experience with them. Without revealing my identity, I wish to highlight I have extensive experience seeing them compete in races and complete workouts. This type of behavior was infact very common.

Classic Berg...

MG wrote:

Extremely nice young couple

So we've established they're a couple? Should make a nice, funny story for their kids later on!

Thank you!! I appreciate that a lot.

And whoever MG is, in all seriousness, thank you. That is very kind of you to say. I talked to quite a few very supportive and understanding people after the race. Despite the bib snafu, great day overall!

Then there are races like this POS one which make picking up your packet an extra money grab.

http://destinationraces.com/runvirginia/registration/packet-pickup-options/

Make no mistake. Staub and Bergstrom are shady characters and not to be trusted. I have known both for a number of years (which usually means two). In a private conversation with Bergstrom, he told me that Donald Sterling's controversial racist remarks, "weren't baseless." Also, on more than one occasion (which always means twice) Staub, despite my polite request to do so, has not said hello on my behalf to a mutual friend. I know this because I asked the other friend at a later date if Staub passed along my greeting, and I was told that Staub had made no recent mention of me. So I certainly wouldn't put it passed either of them to cheat their way to a marathon victory. I suspect a serial marathon cheating spree may be in the works with these two conspirers. A marathon-gate if you will.

I have more information to reveal, but i don't find this website to be secure enough. Anyone who is interested in learning more about this maticulously planned scandal can meet me on the bottom level of any parking garage.

Of course the honorable thing would have been to DQ themselves.

Entitlement Generation