Did She or Didn't She Run Boston 2016??

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HCcD
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Did She or Didn't She Run Boston 2016??

Postby HCcD » Sat Apr 23, 2016 7:42 pm

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Re: Did She or Didn't She Run Boston 2016??

Postby deerdree » Sat Apr 23, 2016 8:32 pm

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

i know i shouldn't be laughing, but i started when i read, "what place did she come in??" (those people are the best!) and i couldn't stop after that. talk about going all in!! except for, you know, actually running the race. this is my kind of cheater. :lol:

i mean, obviously she has some deep self-esteem issues if she feels the need to earn pats on the back this way. and i do hope she sorts that out. but in the meantime, thanks for the laugh!! :lol:

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ian
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Re: Did She or Didn't She Run Boston 2016??

Postby ian » Sat Apr 23, 2016 9:38 pm

Well, that's a new one...

internet vigilante wrote:This is an example of how prestigous the Boston Marathon is to many, and how far some will go to try to get a piece of the glory.

And using the word "glory" to describe the accomplishments and trinkets of an expensive fitness hobby goes a long way to explaining why there will be two new cheaters to take the place of every one that is caught.

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Re: Did She or Didn't She Run Boston 2016??

Postby HCcD » Sun Apr 24, 2016 5:45 am

Have to ask, with all the strict requirements of BQ'ing and then the registration process, etc, what is the odd of Boston messing up on the bib name?

Having said that, how is it possible for the person in the finish / medal photoss able to have done that switcharoo ??

Pretty expensive trip to Boston for attempting to pulling off this facade, eh !!!
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ian
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Re: Did She or Didn't She Run Boston 2016??

Postby ian » Sun Apr 24, 2016 6:46 am

HCcD wrote:Have to ask, with all the strict requirements of BQ'ing and then the registration process, etc, what is the odd of Boston messing up on the bib name?

With a hyphenated last name, bugs can arise, especially for the unofficial online tracking to which her followers were referring.

Having said that, how is it possible for the person in the finish / medal photoss able to have done that switcharoo ??
Pretty expensive trip to Boston for attempting to pulling off this facade, eh !!!

Huh? All of her posted photos were taken on her own phone. All she had to do was dig a space blanket out of the trash and buy a jacket (and later, a medal). Counting bus fare from a nearby state and a night in a hostel, the weekend might not have cost more than a few-hundred bucks, or about the cost of a watch for a "real runner".

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Re: Did She or Didn't She Run Boston 2016??

Postby canalrunner » Sun Apr 24, 2016 6:48 am

Not sure I really care. All a bit sad. Hope she feels good about something else in her life.
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Re: Did She or Didn't She Run Boston 2016??

Postby La » Sun Apr 24, 2016 10:29 am

The link doesn't work for me. Has the post been taken down?
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Re: Did She or Didn't She Run Boston 2016??

Postby La » Sun Apr 24, 2016 10:38 am

And then there's this story about how someone was almost mistakenly "outed" as a bandit...
http://www.marathoninvestigation.com/20 ... meone.html
Glad to hear he does a fair amount of digging before claiming someone wasn't honest in their accomplishment.
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Re: Did She or Didn't She Run Boston 2016??

Postby deerdree » Sun Apr 24, 2016 11:13 am

La wrote:The link doesn't work for me. Has the post been taken down?

yeah, looks like it's been taken down - but the cached version lives on!

(having now visited the website, i'm actually NOT impressed with the guy's techniques. the runner's world article made it sound like he used a pretty high standard for guilt, but some of the cases he presents have a lot of reasonable doubt. for me, i'd need to see a picture of someone else wearing the bib or some sort of definitive proof before i rendered judgment. and cached versions live on forever, so once you post something, you can't take it back!)

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Re: Did She or Didn't She Run Boston 2016??

Postby Jwolf » Mon Apr 25, 2016 12:17 pm

ian wrote:Well, that's a new one...

internet vigilante wrote:This is an example of how prestigous the Boston Marathon is to many, and how far some will go to try to get a piece of the glory.

And using the word "glory" to describe the accomplishments and trinkets of an expensive fitness hobby goes a long way to explaining why there will be two new cheaters to take the place of every one that is caught.

Are you trying to say this one guy is encouraging more cheaters?
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Re: Did She or Didn't She Run Boston 2016??

Postby Jwolf » Mon Apr 25, 2016 12:34 pm

Then Marathon Investigator talks about several people reporting bandits using bib forgeries in this post:

http://www.marathoninvestigation.com/20 ... n.html?m=1

These were all sent to him by the legitamate bib-owner after seeing pictures of other people running with their number.
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Re: Did She or Didn't She Run Boston 2016??

Postby ian » Mon Apr 25, 2016 3:21 pm

Jwolf wrote:
ian wrote:Well, that's a new one...

internet vigilante wrote:This is an example of how prestigous the Boston Marathon is to many, and how far some will go to try to get a piece of the glory.

And using the word "glory" to describe the accomplishments and trinkets of an expensive fitness hobby goes a long way to explaining why there will be two new cheaters to take the place of every one that is caught.

Are you trying to say this one guy is encouraging more cheaters?

Sort of. More specifically, the more that some runners try to cling to the notion that marathon running (particularly at Boston) is some sort of noble/heroic/wonderful achievement attainable by only a select few high-character overachievers, the more that certain non-runners will be motivated to find a shortcut to capture some of this adulation. Instead, if more of us were more explicit about celebrating the process (i.e., the friendships, training, and healthy lifestyle) instead of the results (i.e., races, jackets, and prizes), there would be a lot less incentive for cheating. In many cases, these cheaters are more in need of a caring intervention from a friend or family member than they are of a public shaming. If the cheating is too minor for the police to get involved, perhaps others should similarly spend their finite lifetimes on other things.

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Re: Did She or Didn't She Run Boston 2016??

Postby canalrunner » Mon Apr 25, 2016 4:01 pm

You mean running marathons is not about the medal, the jacket, the photo and the praise of others? It is not about the bling? :what:
You mean it could be about focusing on a goal, putting in the work, challenging yourself and delivering. It is about the journey as much as the destiny? Huh. Interesting concept. Tell me more.

The woman here is just sad.
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Re: Did She or Didn't She Run Boston 2016??

Postby NMG » Mon Apr 25, 2016 5:44 pm

canalrunner wrote:Not sure I really care. All a bit sad. Hope she feels good about something else in her life.


That was my thought as well. I think it's a sad tale to be honest.

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Re: Did She or Didn't She Run Boston 2016??

Postby Dstew » Mon Apr 25, 2016 11:03 pm

ian wrote:
Jwolf wrote:
ian wrote:Well, that's a new one...

internet vigilante wrote:This is an example of how prestigous the Boston Marathon is to many, and how far some will go to try to get a piece of the glory.

And using the word "glory" to describe the accomplishments and trinkets of an expensive fitness hobby goes a long way to explaining why there will be two new cheaters to take the place of every one that is caught.

Are you trying to say this one guy is encouraging more cheaters?

Sort of. More specifically, the more that some runners try to cling to the notion that marathon running (particularly at Boston) is some sort of noble/heroic/wonderful achievement attainable by only a select few high-character overachievers, the more that certain non-runners will be motivated to find a shortcut to capture some of this adulation. Instead, if more of us were more explicit about celebrating the process (i.e., the friendships, training, and healthy lifestyle) instead of the results (i.e., races, jackets, and prizes), there would be a lot less incentive for cheating. In many cases, these cheaters are more in need of a caring intervention from a friend or family member than they are of a public shaming. If the cheating is too minor for the police to get involved, perhaps others should similarly spend their finite lifetimes on other things.


The reality is $240 entry fee for someone from Canada. Air fare, hotels, food, cab and the jacket, etc. Who is going to pay for that for the intangibles stated and to play the Devil's advocate: training can be grueling and at time pure torture. The blood, sweat and tears to come close is at best a bitter sweat accomplishment. The running injuries, potential heart issues and other factors such as suppressed immune system, etc would suggest that there are a multitude of more suitable means to achieve a healthy lifestyle. Such as running just about any shorter distance. It is a narcissistic endeavor where non running friends and family can be put on the back burner during training and especially in the week or so before a big race.

The great internet vigilantes caught a grand total of now 52 alleged cheaters. That is less then .19% of all runners at Boston. I question anyone who claims up to 400 people cheated even though their own methods is alleged to have caught 52 and we have no real idea as to how strong the evidence is. There are a few very obvious cases and they may have even uncovered a scam used by a European Travel agency but I stand by my belief that the Boston Marathon itself would probably love to see these guys disappear. What marathon wants to read headlines about how there "scores" of cheaters or they have caught 52 but there many more? It hurts the reputation of Boston and that does have the potential to eventually impact what they can charge.

And what price do the cheaters pay? They get their jacket, the medal and moment of glory. There is some internet shaming in the worst cases but delete face book accounts, etc and let that storm pass. When I ran Boston, there was an argument that bandits were a part of the tradition. If they did not deprive a legitimate runner of resources or a medal, what real harm was done. I am sure the police have much better thing to do with their resources then to chase down someone who ran for free or under false pretenses.

Another thing that occurred to me is that if the training, etc is the thing, then why have an organized race. Just the other day I ran 21.1 K. No bib, no aid stations, no start or finish line. But I had my trusty Garmin and I ran the distance with no medal, no officially posted time and no race trinkets. With water packs and running shorts that allow you to carry gels, etc, there is no reason any runner cannot run 42.2 K without the need of race. I have done more then handful of 40 K training runs. But that was for the race, for the trinkets, medals, jacket and official race results. So that I can then run a Boston marathon and get even more prestigious trinkets. I get an experience of a lifetime, Boston gets a lot of my money directly and indirectly and the price is less then 1% of those who run cheated in some form. To me, that is a close to perfection as one could get.

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Re: Did She or Didn't She Run Boston 2016??

Postby Mark.AU » Tue Apr 26, 2016 12:37 am

Did She or Didn't She Run Boston 2016??

Who cares? This kind of thing (well, different but related) used to bother me a little but in the great scheme of things it really doesn't matter - she didn't take anything from anyone.
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Re: Did She or Didn't She Run Boston 2016??

Postby Jogger Barbie » Tue Apr 26, 2016 9:56 am

NMG wrote:
canalrunner wrote:Not sure I really care. All a bit sad. Hope she feels good about something else in her life.


That was my thought as well. I think it's a sad tale to be honest.


That's pretty much where I land. Sad and strange.
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Re: Did She or Didn't She Run Boston 2016??

Postby jonovision_man » Tue Apr 26, 2016 12:20 pm

Dstew wrote:Another thing that occurred to me is that if the training, etc is the thing, then why have an organized race.


No red lights or stop signs. :)

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Re: Did She or Didn't She Run Boston 2016??

Postby Jwolf » Tue Apr 26, 2016 2:13 pm

jonovision_man wrote:
Dstew wrote:Another thing that occurred to me is that if the training, etc is the thing, then why have an organized race.


No red lights or stop signs. :)

jono


And races are fun. :) And give me a different sense of satisfaction than just a run. For me it has nothing to do with the medals and souvenirs. It doesn't have the be the same for everyone, but there are obviously many people who enjoy entering races - and many that just prefer to run.
Last edited by Jwolf on Tue Apr 26, 2016 2:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Did She or Didn't She Run Boston 2016??

Postby deerdree » Tue Apr 26, 2016 2:18 pm

Jwolf wrote:
jonovision_man wrote:
Dstew wrote:Another thing that occurred to me is that if the training, etc is the thing, then why have an organized race.


No red lights or stop signs. :)

jono


And races are fun. :) And give me a different sense of satisfaction than just a run. It doesn't have the be the same for everyone, but there are obviously many people who enjoy entering races - and many that just prefer to run.

and some who just like to pretend to have run!

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Re: Did She or Didn't She Run Boston 2016??

Postby Dstew » Tue Apr 26, 2016 11:25 pm

Jwolf wrote:
jonovision_man wrote:
Dstew wrote:Another thing that occurred to me is that if the training, etc is the thing, then why have an organized race.


No red lights or stop signs. :)

jono


And races are fun. :) And give me a different sense of satisfaction than just a run. For me it has nothing to do with the medals and souvenirs. It doesn't have the be the same for everyone, but there are obviously many people who enjoy entering races - and many that just prefer to run.



My comments were merely towards the objective of keeping running "pure" and "noble" to the point trinkets do not matter and thus cheating is not worth the effort.

If my back were to allow me, I would continue to run organized marathons not so much because they are fun but because they are hard and thus the medal is the reward. It is a physical and objective symbol of the work involved in the process that in turn gets one to the finish line. It is pretty incredible to think that people are going to pay very good money on a completely voluntary basis and to train and sacrifice for months just to run a set distance on a set date at a set time. For me, it is a hobby so I cannot get too worked up that is a handful of people "cheat" or pretend to run a race as that does nothing to diminish my accomplishment.


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