Hoisted by your own petard

[Gavster]

Looking at the data, her cadence is rock solid until 25 miles. Between then and the segment with the car, her cadence drops loads of times, in fact the pace makes it looks like she's stopped on a couple of occasions. I doubt someone at her level would stop unless they need the loo. She was clearly having issues in this race.

Then, was it premeditated, or spur of the moment? Her pace doesn't drop at all when she got in the car, which suggests she didn't have to wait, she hopped straight into one from her running pace. Which means someone was probably waiting and knew they had to keep moving quickly.

I reckon she phoned someone, said she was struggling and planned it, hoping she'd get away with it, based on the fact she's a world record holder and usually finishes strong. I can't imagine her brain is functioning properly at mile 40 of an ultra, I could barely say my name after a marathon, so it's unlikely she really considered this in any serious way.

[Ascender]

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?

We never had something as blatant as that to deal with, but we did have a few occasions where lead runners would bend the rules and it would be reported to us, either by marshals or support crews from other runners at the front end of things. It would really take the shine off things as you end up having to deal with various people who were either angry, upset, indignant etc. A right royal PITA.

You're right though, whether "pre-meditated" or not, there was a moment where they decided that they were going to go through with it - hop out the car and cross the finish line as if nothing's happened.

[Gavster]

It's also notable that the lift was over a section of course that had a significant incline too - I think she decided she didn't have the legs for it. Too proud/stupid to admit it though.

[Ascender]

It's also notable that the lift was over a section of course that had a significant incline too - I think she decided she didn't have the legs for it. Too proud/stupid to admit it though.

I've seen it lots of times at ultra distance where if one of the leaders is having a bad day they'll just chuck it rather than tough it out and finish down the field. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall in the car to see what was said!

[Gavster]

It's also notable that the lift was over a section of course that had a significant incline too - I think she decided she didn't have the legs for it. Too proud/stupid to admit it though.

I've seen it lots of times at ultra distance where if one of the leaders is having a bad day they'll just chuck it rather than tough it out and finish down the field. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall in the car to see what was said!

100% yes to hearing that! Was the driver working on the assumption that she'd thrown the towel in? Or were they a partner in crime

[mik]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-65322631

she had become lost on the course around the half-way mark when her leg began to feel sore and she started to limp.

The pain became so bad that when she saw a friend on the side of the course and she accepted a lift in his car to the next checkpoint to tell marshals she was pulling out of the race.

"When I got to the checkpoint I told them I was pulling out and that I had been in the car, and they said 'you will hate yourself if you stop'," Dr Zakrzewski said.

"I agreed to carry on in a non-competitive way.

"I made sure I didn't overtake the runner in front when I saw her as I didn't want to interfere with her race."

When she crossed the line she was given a medal and a third place wooden trophy and posed for pictures.

The runner, who had arrived from Australia the night before, said: "I made a massive error accepting the trophy and should have handed it back.

"I was tired and jetlagged and felt sick.

"I hold my hands up, I should have handed them back and not had pictures done but I was feeling unwell and spaced out and not thinking clearly."

Third place in the race has now been awarded to Mel Sykes.

Dr Zakrzewski, said: "I'm an idiot and want to apologise to Mel. It wasn't malicious, it was miscommunication.

"I would never purposefully cheat and this was not a target race, but I don't want to make excuses.

"Mel didn't get the glory at the finish and I'm really sorry she didn't get that.

[duncs500]

Sounds plausible, and I can even sort of understand getting swept up in the stuff after the race, but surely she could have come forward after getting a bit of time to rest and realised that she needed to make it right. It seems like it's all come to light a good week or more after the event.

She's a fucking impressive athlete nonetheless doing all that aged 47, I'm 41 and I seem to constantly be aching one way or another!

[Ascender]

I mean...

Its ok to carry on in a non-competitive way... although to have accepted a lift any of the distance meant you'd remove your bib... the checkpoint would let the finish know she'd withdrawn... you cross the line... you can say "no" to the medal... or the trophy... and then it usually takes a wee bit to get the top 3 runners together for a picture as they've all finished at different times, are getting refreshed, changed etc... if you're that spaced out, you'd be plonked in a chair and given time to recover after crossing the finishing line... etc. The organisation running the races are very experienced and professional, so it's all just a wee bit (very) weird.

[mik]

Can you help me interpret this as I don't use it:

X-axis = distance

Top trace = speed (?)
Middle trace = cadence (?)
Lower trace = heartrate (?)
Greyed out bars = height (?)

[240PP]

Sounds plausible

Eh?! If I’d had a lift in a car there’d be no way at any point would I be accepting a medal and posing for pictures!

[duncs500]

Sounds plausible

Eh?! If I’d had a lift in a car there’d be no way at any point would I be accepting a medal and posing for pictures!

I've never run 50 (or indeed 47.5) miles, so I can't speak with any authority on the subject or how I would act. Happy to take your word for it though.

[V8Granite]

Utter bullshit, she had a lapse in Morals and loads of chances to admit what she did.

Dave!

[mik]

I've never run 50 (or indeed 47.5) miles, so I can't speak with any authority on the subject or how I would act.

Me neither Duncs, but I would walk five hundred miles, and I would walk five hundred more - just to be the man who walks a thousand miles to fall down on your floor. So long as you can give me a short lift - picking me up at what3words ///story.sounds.unlikely tomorrow at 14:38:19.6

[Ascender]

Sounds plausible

Eh?! If I’d had a lift in a car there’d be no way at any point would I be accepting a medal and posing for pictures!

I've never run 50 (or indeed 47.5) miles, so I can't speak with any authority on the subject or how I would act. Happy to take your word for it though.

I've seen thousands of people crossing the line after these sort of races. If someone is properly "spaced out" it's obvious to all concerned they need help and that will happen before anything else. There's usually a delay from crossing the line too where runners will typically get given prizes, pose for photos etc, but we're all just guessing what happened. As someone who organised this type of race, its fascinating!

[Gavster]

Can you help me interpret this as I don't use it:

X-axis = distance

Top trace = speed (?)
Middle trace = cadence (?)
Lower trace = heartrate (?)
Greyed out bars = height (?)

Tbh I was guessing too but you worked out the same.

Pace
Cadence
HR
Altitude