Hoisted by your own petard

[mik]

I don't follow this twitterer, but a few people that I do follow (including ex-forum mr Brian Drought) do follow them : so this post appeared in my feed.

Apparently a lady ultra-marathon runner in the recent Liverpool-Manchester 50mile race took 3rd place, and then posted their Strava data somewhere that others could view it - where it was then obvious to anyone used to viewing this data that she'd jumped into a car for 2.5 miles (moving at about 35mph with heart rate dropping to 90bpm, and cadence dropping to 0 steps per minute).

They have now been appropriately disqualified, but it's somehow rather sweet that they apparently exposed their own cheating.

[JonMad]

oh dear, getting a lift up the hill near the end, looking at the data

[Ascender]

WTAF

Who on earth would even consider doing that in an event of that nature, let alone think they'd get away with it?

So glad I'm out of that malarkey.

[Rich B]

Yeah, why would you do this? Surely these events are only a base for proving your fitness to youself?

[mik]

Who on earth would even consider doing that in an event of that nature, let alone think they'd get away with it?

I guess this will now cast doubt over everything they ever achieved. Nuts.

[Ascender]

There's no big prizes at stake, qualification for other races (that I'm aware of), so I guess the only thing here is the personal pride of winning and maybe trying to raise your profile if you're looking for sponsorship? But even then, in the ultra world that's not life changing (relatively speaking) unless you're one of the top athletes in the world.

All very strange.

And to front it out, pick up the prize etc? Wow.

Like you say @mik, its pretty satisfying that they basically outed themselves with their own data.

[240PP]

I don’t understand putting the amount of training in required to do an ultra and then cheating.

I could sort of understand someone who had never run or trained before cheating on a 5k

[Simon]

An innocent mistake. Could've happened to anyone.

[nuttinnew]

Like you say @mik, its pretty satisfying that they basically outed themselves with their own data.

Social medi0wned? Selfi0wned?
Can't be angry when it's so easy to point and laugh.

[Carlos]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-65314241

[nuttinnew]

and a GP too How so very dare she

[Gavster]

Hmmm sounds like she’s very successful perhaps she couldn’t handle the idea of not being on the podium

[ZedLeg]

I just don't understand it. If she cared enough about the result to cheat why didn't she make sure she was here in time to properly prep. Then to upload evidence is just weird. The whole thing reeks of self sabotage.

[JonMad]

Very peculiar. A moment of madness that sh'ed get away with it, having thought to drop out? Interesting the BBC article doesn't mention her getting her photo taken on the podium. Maybe didn't want to embarrass her even more, now she's been named so publicly.

[Ascender]

I just don't understand it. If she cared enough about the result to cheat why didn't she make sure she was here in time to properly prep. Then to upload evidence is just weird. The whole thing reeks of self sabotage.

Depending what watch and fitness services she's signed up to, the minute you hit stop on your watch, it can be just a matter of seconds before it's uploaded on to the internet for all to see. Did she then just try and delete it but not quickly enough? Why get up on the podium and accept 3rd knowing she'd cheated in such a blatant and massive way? With her level of experience and the fact she would have expected to be near the top of the field, she would know that even small breaches of rules in her case would be dealt with severely. The whole thing is just bizarre.

[dinny_g]

Lot of negative publicity for a GP...

I don't see this one ending well

[John]

To give her the benefit of the doubt, she apparently felt ill and got a lift towards the finish and was expecting to finish well down the order and just melt away after the race. She unexpectedly finished third and was swept along with the organisation with the podium etc.

Or maybe she's just a cheat.

[Rich B]

To give her the benefit of the doubt, she apparently felt ill and got a lift towards the finish and was expecting to finish well down the order and just melt away after the race. She unexpectedly finished third and was swept along with the organisation with the podium etc.

Or maybe she's just a cheat.

if you feel ill and get a lift, then you pull out of the race! What a shit excuse!

[mik]

Depending what watch and fitness services she's signed up to, the minute you hit stop on your watch, it can be just a matter of seconds before it's uploaded on to the internet for all to see. Did she then just try and delete it but not quickly enough? Why get up on the podium and accept 3rd knowing she'd cheated in such a blatant and massive way? With her level of experience and the fact she would have expected to be near the top of the field, she would know that even small breaches of rules in her case would be dealt with severely. The whole thing is just bizarre.

Re-reading the original tweet (Mel Sykes) it sounds like a number of competitors raised concerns, which then lead organisers to look at the data. Which does make sense - if you are a successful (& therefore high-profile) athlete, then other runners will of course be aware if they are ahead of you, and whether you subsequently overtook them.....

People can only speculate on the driving factor(s), but I am struggling to imagine a scenario where this could occur as a "moment of madness"? It seems logical that being able to access and exit a vehicle without being spotted by officials or other competitors would take some careful advance planning?

[John]

To give her the benefit of the doubt, she apparently felt ill and got a lift towards the finish and was expecting to finish well down the order and just melt away after the race. She unexpectedly finished third and was swept along with the organisation with the podium etc.

Or maybe she's just a cheat.

if you feel ill and get a lift, then you pull out of the race! What a shit excuse!

I agree, I'm not saying the above happened at all but people do weird things.