marathon cut off times need to change to increase good health (Read 424 times)

 

If someone knows of a genuine service he has done outing someone who really deserved to be outed, and done in a responsible way, please let me know. Before you say Kelly Agnew, my recollection is that others did the legwork there and Derek made the loudest noise about it. 

Even though it has nothing to do with marathon cut offs needing to be increased so people can spend 8 hours on a road because it is healthier, and we've gone WAY away from that topic to the point of just needing a new thread...

 

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[full disclosure - he was very helpful in getting Jane Seo disqualified from the AIA half, which elevated a friend of mine up to the placing she had earned.]

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If you look really closely, you can see that nowadays the smoke is composed of equal parts products of inefficient digestion and a fog of disillusionment.

Still funny. One day later.

 

 

And so, at least twice a year, someone would ask me to "carry their chip" and get them their BQ.

 

Seriously? Wow. I realize it's done, but hard to imagine it's such a regular thing. I guess that was before they had all those downhill races where you could do it yourself? (Did I just bring up another hot button topic?)

 

The downhill thing is a fun topic. There's a company (Revel) which has made that their signature. All their courses are like that.

 

We can also talk about banditing. That's always fun. Used to be more fun to discuss.

 

Or whether it is ok to wear a Boston Marathon jacket (purchased for 65 bucks at Marshalls/Ross/etc) if one did not, in fact, run Boston.

 

Or whether it is ok to wear a Boston Marathon jacket if one DID run Boston, but wear it everywhere to boast. Because that's what you must be doing if you wear the Sweet Jacket.

I do love Bikini shots.

Too many of them can take atoll on you, though.

 

And so, at least twice a year, someone would ask me to "carry their chip" and get them their BQ.

 

A couple years ago, I finished 3rd female in a pretty big 10K  - they announced it as I crossed the line, etc.   This was pre-marathon investigations, and when we raced with chips on our shoes.

Imagine my shock when I was told a few hours later that I was not third female, but in fact 10th female.  No awards ceremony for me; my age group award would be mailed.

So....I waited until the photos came out - most of the "women" ahead of me (other than the two legits) were clearly men, based on their photos.  Easy DQs.

There was one woman who did not show at all - no pictures.  Huh.  A bit of detective work showed that she and a man (presumably her husband or brother - same last name and city of residence) had identical start and finish times, as well as identical 5K splits.  So I pulled up the man's photos.  He clearly finished by himself; no woman next to him.  And....when I blew up his finish photo, he had timing chips on both shoes....

So then I presented all of this to the race management, and a few days later they corrected the results.  And then about 6 months later, I got my nice big plaque for third place in a big race - the delay was because they had to have another one made because they had already mailed the original to the "winner" after "she" didn't show up at the awards ceremony.

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I've got a lot of similar stories from past years - where I legitimately won something, but had to play "Marathon Investigations" myself to get the results corrected.  It happens a LOT in the female masters category - young guys buy bibs off of older women, and then dominate the division.  And it's really frustrating when I win something, but don't get my opportunity to walk up on stage and collect my prize, and don't get my name published in the results until a few days later, after the photos come out, and I've done some sleuthing.  Perhaps you think I'm shallow for caring this much about awards and placings, but I'm a competitor and I do this competitive sport TO compete - to win or lose fairly.

Since Marathon Investigations came about, I've had to do my own sleuthing a lot less.  Races are taking this issue much more seriously now than they used to, and they check their own photos before giving out awards.  I think the publicity that many of these cheating cases have gotten - the "shaming" - is a large part of why races are now doing the work themselves, and I certainly appreciate the result.

And...to be clear, I do think you can dislike Marathon Investigations and not be endorsing or supporting cheating - I am NOT accusing those who disagree with me of supporting cheating.

However, I see the Marathon Investigations work as "race-shaming" as much as people shaming.  And honestly, a lot of races needed to be shamed.

 

You guys need to go on tour.

WE HAVE.

I'd post a photo of us, but I'm old now and I don't remember how that shit works on RA.

  However, I see the Marathon Investigations work as "race-shaming" as much as people shaming.  And honestly, a lot of races needed to be shamed.

I guess this depends on what you actually mean by "a lot". I have worked for various race organizations over the years, across the US. Most have their issues behind the scenes, and every now and then one is truly sketch... but I dunno. Most are fair folks doing their best. Even when they fuck up, they don't need to be shamed. But my experience is different than yours and there's that.

You deserve what you win, obviously (and even if I said the opposite, who the hell am I?). Totally ok to care about that.

Derek transcends all that. Some of the stuff I keep writing and then erasing gets to that. See, for every person like you that he helps, there's at least one person that he's totally shitting on. And that is not ok. Among other scenarios, there is the one my girlfriend went through in 2016 when she finally... after much hard work... BQed. For some of the fast folks, yall don't understand this, but for her, this was MAJOR. Like one of the top things on her list of "I did good".

Just one problem. The 10K mat at Indianapolis Monumental is right next to portapotties. And she missed the mat because of the set up (I don't remember if she stopped to potty or what). And then spent the next few months wondering if she was going to get publicly humiliated by J Edgar Dipshit because she simply missed a mat. I told her not to worry, but that does not matter... the effect Derek is having is not limited to cheating cheatersons... he is scaring people who have done no wrong.

And here's the thing. Derek is barely a runner. I could go on and on about how some of his conquests are bullshit. Whatever. One thing is for sure... it took him YEARS to publicly acknowledge something we all know - sometimes chips misread at mats, and sometimes chips don't work - either because the rfid is bad or because the timing company didn't index the chip to the runner correctly. MOST OF US KNOW THIS. Derek did not. Or did not care. Or whatever, I dunno. Finally, he started acknowledging this. Many times, the set up in one of Derek's hot takes involves "I sent email to the unsub and they did not respond... therefore GUILTY". I have seen the emails he sends people. If someone sent me (or you, or anyone) a random email from out of the blue suggesting that I/you/anyone did something untoward in a random event (not specific to running.... anything), MOST OF US would either not respond... because, WTF, who are you, creep?... or would respond with "WTF, who are you, creep?" But for Derek and his fanatics, this is proof of guilt. No, it is proof that most of us don't want to engage with a goddamn crank.