Golgi Body wrote:
That means his last 4.7 miles was covered in 39:46, or just under 8:30 pace. In real marathons that people actually run in their entirety, bonks like this do happen. However, it would be surprising given how steady his first 21.5 miles was, even speeding up between 15.3 and 21.5 miles.
I had nearly identical splits in my third marathon. Thought I was in better shape than I was after taking too much time off during the winter months. Running 6:45-pace, and all was good until about Mile 22. Ran 3:05.
So that's not too weird. Except I was 22, and he was 66.
It does seem that any hopping on or off the course would have been very obvious. Looks like he was running in third place overall for most of the race, even after starting (crossing the start mat) more than two minutes after the gun.
Wait, more than TWO minutes? It was a small race, and every other runner was across the starting mat within ONE minute. Maybe a last moment run to the potty?