Course Cutting at Kiawah Results in Age Group Win

By
Derek
-
12
5991
2016 Kiawah Island Marathon Map (Click to Enlarge)

I have identified runners that have seemingly cut the course in Kiawah in the past. The course has changed over the years, but on a relatively small island, it is pretty much unavoidable that the course will be setup in such a way to make cutting off portions of the course possible.

One Age Group winner  had missed splits and earned a Boston Qualifying Time. Their spouse also had the same anomalies. After posting the original article I heard from the runner and have decided it would be appropriate to take down any identifying information.

I now believe that the results were more a result of naivety by the runners than any intentional deception. They openly acknowledge that they ran the 1/2 marathon each year. The results are being removed and the proper age group winner will be awarded their prize.

The email asserts that they were under the assumption that their time would be changed to reflect the 1/2 marathon.

Since they have openly admitted that they ran the 1/2 and the results are being adjusted, I consider this result appropriate, and don’t want any further attention brought onto this couple.

Lastly, some people have asked for a way to contribute to the blog, so I have added a link to make a contribution if you’d wish to support the efforts. Anything received will go directly to promoting the blog and any costs associated with enhancing the efforts to catch and prevent marathon cheating.

Contribution Amount

12 COMMENTS

  2. Keep up the good work! I'm glad we can now contribute to the blog, I've been a frequent reader over the last several months and feel like I owe you a few bucks just for entertainment factor let alone the help to the sport.

  4. This is easy to explain. They registered for the full but ran the half. There was a single timing mat at mile 6.5 of the half which was also the 13 mat for the full. The 10/20 mats were only part of the full course. I ran the full and there were several places where the two courses split off and rejoined. Except for the first split-off, I didn't notice anyone paying attention to the bib colors (yellow for full, white for half). And even at that first point, it would be easy to hide your bib or claim you changed your mind.

    http://www.kiawahresort.com/downloads/pdf/marathon-map-2016-13.1.pdf

    http://www.kiawahresort.com/downloads/pdf/marathon-map-2016-26.2.pdf

    Jay Soffian

  5. The race director for Kiawah has been personally informed of the situation and has spoken with the runner in question. The matter will soon be resolved.

  7. Hope you have good lawyers….. cause this may have the most innocent of explanations. You've made some serious charges here.

  8. What charges have I made? I laid out the facts and my opinion that it was not likely to be accidental since the missed splits happened two different years. that said, I have heard from the husband. He acknowledges that they just ran the 1/2 marathon each year. Inwill aens the article to include the admission and explanation in the morning.

  9. There could not be any legal action taken against Derek for his writings on this or other reports that he has made. He is merely questioning the interpretation of specified facts. The specified facts being the reports from timing mats along the race courses or the absence of them. By raising his arguments along with supporting evidence suggesting that they may be in error or represent physically impossible feats, he is perfectly protected in making the accusations that he does.

  11. bib number 9520 – F55-59 Lauran Bromley – male ran with her bib.
    During the stay I spoke and heard from Japanese travel agents that they replaced several hundreds runners at last minutes and instructed to hide bibs from photographers.

  12. I never knew that stating true facts was considered "serious charges". If Derek never called these people out, even if they didn't realize they were cheating, they would continue to do this and the true winner would never receive their proper recognition and someone else who just missed the cut to go to Boston will get in. What Derek is doing is wonderful and should keep up the good work.

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