Women's winner of BMW Dallas Marathon blows her legs out, finishes carrying a fridge.

D.Katz wrote:

Runners are allowed to share water/refreshments in a race as long as it does not become a situation where one runner is consistently servicing another (others)

Isn't this more like the running equivalent of a sticky water bottle in cycling? I thought it was not permitted but that people don't really care. FWIW, Shorter took one of Moore's bottles in Munich, and Moore didn't take it from Shorter because it would've been receiving assistance from a competitor.

It might not have been legal in the 70's but it's definitely permitted now.

800 dude wrote:

D.Katz wrote:

Runners are allowed to share water/refreshments in a race as long as it does not become a situation where one runner is consistently servicing another (others)

Isn't this more like the running equivalent of a sticky water bottle in cycling? I thought it was not permitted but that people don't really care. FWIW, Shorter took one of Moore's bottles in Munich, and Moore didn't take it from Shorter because it would've been receiving assistance from a competitor.

This not surprising, given that Moore is American-born and (as I have learned from reading here at LR) Shorter is not American-born, and thus not truly American.

I hope the medals are reallocated. No reason for the German (Shorter) to get a medal, just because he was running in his true home country. Moore deserves the bronze.

kmaclam wrote:

DownhillRunner wrote:

I know this runner. She wouldn't have wanted the help. Not her fault.

Huh?.......she wouldn’t have?.....but.....???

The girl was on the verge of soiling herself but she should have really reached deeper to fend off the assistance

Rules need to be clear wrote:

Would this happen in the Olympics? If someone is pulled across the finish, do they still get a medal if they win the race? At the course marshall's discretion?

Here you go kiddo's. The proper way to handle the situation.

hobblejogger wrote:

I've seen two articles now that said she was on a 12 person relay team running two miles each. The race website says relay teams are 5 person teams. They were trying to compete with the race leaders. I'm so confused by this whole thing. I'm thinking that's another reason this chick didn't just blow by here at mile 21.5. Everyone from then on would have thought she was the rightful race winner and would have caused all kinds of chaos.

To provide more context to this, the high school relay is a separate race from the marathon relay that is open to the public. It's a longstanding tradition here but the format has varied from year to year. They intentionally try to structure the high school relay to finish around the same time as the winner.

^+1

Great perserverance and heart, but a DQ. Watch the video interview of the girl that helped her. "I pushed her across the finish line...you're winning this". It's a feel good story to be sure, but Self didn't cross the finish line unassisted nor do I think that she could have gotten up and continued after any of her numerous falls. She ran too hard just like any number of other runners that blow up during a marathon and just because it happened a hundred meters from the finish line doesn't change that fact. If she was a mid-packer then it would only matter to her, but she should have the grace and respect for the sport to decline the win and self DQ.

This popped up again recently and I noticed that USATF has changed the rule to allow a competitor to be helped to their feet again, but not helped 'forward'. This was still 200m from the finish and 2nd place was a couple minutes behind. There is no way in hell she would have covered those 200 meters herself in that condition. Eventually she wouldn't even had been able to hoist herself to her feet. Why the hell would this rule change happen. Helping her to her feet provides even more assistance than 'helping' her foward....how does one even do that?! None of it makes sense and its all of it is rather disappointing.

LOCK HER UP!

I agree with this, 100 percent a DQ.

A very tough runner to be sure, and no doubts she has faster and more decisive marathon finishes to look forward to.

It was also quite noble of the 2nd place to insist on letting the finish count, but what else could she reasonably do?

Regardless of personal feelings, ultimately the race staff had to render an impartial decision as to whether this finish was accomplished within the rules and competitors must accept that decision.

Is this really how people want this sport to be conducted? What if every marathon finish was like this. Would that be acceptable? Mistakes were clearly made. Lessons were learned.

While it is a lovely human moment, it’s not a strong example of athletic performance, and it really seems like the ruling was of a political nature. This may advance an inspiring narrative, it doesn’t really contribute to the dignity of the sport.

It’s a fantastic running story for the people involved.

A "lovely human moment"? How about doing it under your own steam. It wasn't a life being saved out there. Another lovely human moment - finishing someone else's exam paper when they've run out of ideas.

I can't believe I'm the first to post this classic head to head battle to the finish. You gotta watch the whole thing.

https://youtu.be/MTn1v5TGK_w

toofunny wrote:

I can't believe I'm the first to post this classic head to head battle to the finish. You gotta watch the whole thing.

https://youtu.be/MTn1v5TGK_w

That's hilarious! Maybe even better than the classic NCAA XC finish cam capturing all that melodramatic flopping.