I am going to try to write an update every Friday regarding site news, summaries of articles posted earlier in the week and any relevant updates. I also will do quick write ups on topics that don’t warrant full articles. Thanks for reading, as always.
MARATHON MANIACS
If you’ve been to The Marathon Maniacs website lately, you may have noticed the Marathon Investigation logo on the footer of all of the pages. I am honored to have the support of The Marathon Maniacs organization.
I appreciate the support that they have shown to Marathon Investigation by allowing me to post on their Facebook page and allowing an open discussion regarding course cutting, bib swapping, etc.
If you or your organization would like to become a partner or a supporter of Marathon Investigation, please visit our Partner Page for more details.
COPIED BIBS
The big stories of the week revolved around the copying of bibs for the 2016 and 2017 Boston Marathon. It turns out the runners using the copied bibs were primarily Reebok employees.
The bibs that were copied came from a local charity. The founder of the charity replied this morning in the comments section and reached out to me as well.
There will be a follow up next week. I hope to get more information regarding the specifics of how the bibs were copied and who was aware. I also hope to get more information on the charity to pass along. It is not my desire to negatively impact a charity if it is truly doing great work. But at the same time, I don’t believe that provides justification for runners to use forged bibs.
B.A.A. INTERNATIONAL TOUR PROGRAM
After writing about the fraud at Planet Tours, I have seen many posts on social media and have received emails regarding tour operators offering guaranteed entries to The Boston Marathon. The B.A.A. did confirm with me that approved agencies do have access to some bibs without the need for a qualifying time. Per the email:
“Yes, The B.A.A. does have an International Tour program which encourages participation from a number of countries”
If a tour agency is listed at the above link, they are legitimately selling “guaranteed” entries. If anyone sees an agency not listed above selling non qualified entries, I would recommend contacting the B.A.A. or myself.
WAITING ON DISQUALIFICATIONS
I expect to have news shortly regarding the status of Andrew Schwarz, the runner that allegedly took the subway with the goal of a sub 3:00 finish. I also receive another email from a witness.
“I was standing just after the hospital at the Woodlands T stop waiting for my fiancé to run by. A man I with his shirt off and German flag colors on his face approached me as I stood along the fence and asked where the train station was. I asked him to repeat the question because he was out of breath and his accent I did not understand him at first. I directed him up over the bridge and to the right. I figure the weather had gotten to him and he was calling it quits. Seeing his face in the photo I can say that was the man who asked me the location of the train station. To cheat like that is horrible. A lot of runners had trouble because of the heat that day. At least the runners that had to slow down and those that even walked can proudly say they legitimately crossed that finish line. He gives the sport a bad name.”
I also will be following up on the status of George Taylor.
THANK YOU
I once again wanted to thank everyone that has contributed to the site. There are many new followers on Facebook, and traffic has increased tremendously. In the next couple months I will once again upgrade the servers to keep up with demand. The contributions help make that possible. Without the support from everyone, the site would not have been able to grow as it has.
In my initial review of the 2017 results, I am seeing less of the obvious cheating at the top of my list. Hopefully this means that the efforts to prevent cheating from occurring in the first place is having an impact. It is still early in the review, and I will continue to report on the results.
If you would like to make a contribution to support the site, please choose an amount below and click on the link.
-Derek
Keep up the good work Derek.
The best thing that could come out of this site is for people to be less inclined to try to cheat, copy bibs, etc in the first place because of the fear of being caught.
There will always be those that choose to cut corners. However, knowing that there is a better chance that they will be caught will make some people think twice about attempting these stunts in the future.
I like the idea of a weekly wrap-up. Great job!
I’m disappointed you removed the cheat video. I suppose it might give some an “idea.” I found it humorous, in the manner it was intended, as I’m sure other honest runners would. Maybe a copyright infringement issue?
The cheat video was removed by the channel that put it up on Youtube. I didn’t realize that he had announced that he was pulling it the day before. Not sure why – I guess to generate a wave of interest.
Comments are closed.