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GO! St. Louis Marathon "winner" DQ'd (Read 267 times)

HCH


    Looks like St. Louis has its own Rosie Ruiz. I love the video of her crossing the finish line. Looks legit for sure. Race officials must have been on to her immediately. It's just too bad that she stole the real winner's moment of victory. Pathetic.

     

    Link

    Only 26.2 miles more to go.

    rlopez


      They should have been on her immediately as she apparently did this the year before too.

       

      From another article: "The craziest thing is, Schler was already on the marathon’s radar, as she finished third in last year’s race despite no one seeing her on the course before the final section. It’s as if she tried it last year, got away with third, then decided to go for the big win this time."

      runmichigan


        I think she miscalculated.  I don't think she planned to "win" and was surprised that she did.  If she had come in third again, she might have gotten away with it.

         

        I was amazed that she stated that she removed the timing strip from her number both years.  A person new to races with timing strips on the bib might do that once, but not a second time a year later.

          PTI on ESPN just covered this and showed some video. The woman looks so uncomfortable crossing the line accepting the award. She clearly didn't mean to "win" and the expression on her face indicated she knew she'd get caught due to the extra scrutiny of finishing first.

           

          So bizarre. People are strange.

          Runners run

          HCH


            They should have been on her immediately as she apparently did this the year before too.

             

            From another article: "The craziest thing is, Schler was already on the marathon’s radar, as she finished third in last year’s race despite no one seeing her on the course before the final section. It’s as if she tried it last year, got away with third, then decided to go for the big win this time."

             

            It sounds like she had no times recorded at the timing mats along the course last year, too. I get that ours is a sport where the honor code has an outsized importance because a race official can't accompany every runner for 26.2 miles, but why did the RD allow her to retain her spot on the podium at last year's race?

             

            I can understand why someone like Rita Jeptoo would cheat: there are millions of dollars at stake for her. But fabricating that you ran a (really fast) marathon in a third tier race that I'm pretty sure doesn't have a prize purse at all? It's narcissism, right?

            Only 26.2 miles more to go.


            Best Present Ever

               

              It sounds like she had no times recorded at the timing mats along the course last year, too. I get that ours is a sport where the honor code has an outsized importance because a race official can't accompany every runner for 26.2 miles, but why did the RD allow her to retain her spot on the podium at last year's race?

               

              I can understand why someone like Rita Jeptoo would cheat: there are millions of dollars at stake for her. But fabricating that you ran a (really fast) marathon in a third tier race that I'm pretty sure doesn't have a prize purse at all? It's narcissism, right?

               

              I agree with the above.  Seems like they would have looked into this before.  A friend of mine ran Boston a few years back, whenever the first year was that they went to chips on the bibs rather than shoes. Through some fluke, her chip was picked up at the beginning and end, and at none of the mats in between.  She was contacted by the BAA and nearly disqualified and banned.  Fortunately, she had a lot of data on her side, including being in multiple photos along the way (the only time anyone was glad for terrible race photos!) and having a long history of running marathons so she could show her time was completely consistent with her history.  Those, plus her garmin file, and a letter from our local coach were all sent to substantiate her time.  And she didn't even place in her AG!

              DennisF6


                The city made a pretty cool gesture to try to make it up to the real winner -

                http://www.ksdk.com/story/sports/2015/04/19/andrea-carl-marathon-winner-cheat-lie/26054035/

                ---

                On April 19, Karl finally got the rewards she deserved, running through the tape held by Joyner-Kersee on the track around Busch Stadium.

                ---


                Kalsarikännit

                  That was pretty cool of everybody involved.

                   

                  Even better, that was a solid first pitch. Way to not make runners look like uncoordinated dorks!

                  I want to do it because I want to do it.  -Amelia Earhart