There are 162 finishers listed in BMW Dallas Marathon 50k results. Looking through the results it is clear that many of these runners should not be in the 50k results. Many of the questionable results are affecting age group placements.
Below is the track taken from a legitimate Strava entry. This shows the modified course. There was a change based on potential flooding in which an out and back section was added from approximately miles 11.5-17. Originally, there was going to be an out and back section north of the lake.
10 of the 142 runners missed the 13.5 mile timing mat. This mat is at the turnaround of the highlighted section on the out and back portion of the course. 5 of these runners finished in the top 15 overall finishers. The change in pace shows that this was not a simple timing mat issue.
| Bib # | overall | 15 km overall pace | 17.3 mile overall pace | split pace |
| 20236 | 7 | 8:13 | 5:59 | 0:03:22 |
| 20190 | 5 | 7:51 | 5:44 | 0:03:16 |
| 20244 | 8 | 9:08 | 6:34 | 0:03:35 |
| 20119 | 12 | 8:58 | 6:30 | 0:03:38 |
| 20038 | 15 | 8:08 | 6:09 | 0:03:51 |
The 50k course is identical to the marathon course with the exception of the out and back section. It is clear that these runners, for whatever reason, dropped to the marathon. It should have been a relatively simple process for the race to drop them down to the marathon results.
I am willing to give these runners the benefit of the doubt. I have not found anything where any of these top runners were claiming to have completed the 50k. I do not know whether or not any of the runners reported their drop in distance upon finishing.
All of the runners above affected the age group awards. It is the race’s responsibility to clean up the results, especially in these obvious cases that affect the top age group rankings.
Cutting The Course?
6 of the 142 runners did not hit any of the checkpoints on the backside of the lake – missing at least the 20.5 and 23.6 timing mats. These 6 runners also saw a substantial increase in pace through this section. 1 of these runners also missed the 13.5 timing checkpoint.
3rd place AG – 60-year-old male
| Mile | Time | segment | Total pace |
| 3.11 | 0:39:18 | 0:12:38 | 0:12:38 |
| 6.22 | 1:22:27 | 0:13:52 | 0:13:15 |
| 9.33 | 2:14:10 | 0:16:38 | 0:14:23 |
| 13.5 | 3:27:07 | 0:17:30 | 0:15:21 |
| 17.3 | 4:19:39 | 0:13:49 | 0:15:01 |
| 18 | 4:28:04 | 0:12:01 | 0:14:54 |
| 20.5 | missed mat | ||
| 23.6 | missed mat | ||
| 29.5 | 5:44:48 | 0:06:40 | 0:11:41 |
| 31.07 | 6:12:06 | 0:17:23 | 0:11:59 |
This is a clear case of a runner not completing the entire course – note the 6:40 minute/mile pace from miles 18 to 29.5. This particular runner is pictured with his finisher medal. The runner that he is pictured with, and was pictured with throughout the course had the same missing splits.
Summary
I received an email about these results a few weeks ago. The tipster emailed the race prior to that. Even if the race does not have the capabilities to instantly flag the runners that dropped to the marathon, the most obvious of these cases should not have been addressed by now. The results I have pointed out should have been caught by the race, and no tips should be needed.
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There where some of the ultra-distance runners who unintentionally missed the turn for the spike. A couple of them were rather hot when they figured it out and backtracked (I was working the aid station on the spike when they came through). I can believe that some of the ultra-distance runners unintentionally missed the turn and never backtracked. You are correct though, Dallas Marathon should be able to fix this quickly.
I can see where that would be possible..I don’t believe an of those missing “the spike” intentionally tried to cut. Either they just missed it or decided to just do the marathon. I did contact one runner who said it was clearly marked..but people still miss signs.
I sent an email to Dallas BMW Marathon results about the errors as it is so obvious when you look at the overall results and missing times at the turnaround, etc. As for the Ultra runners who unintentionally missed the turn for the added out n back portion – unfortunate but it is on them and their fault for not knowing the course as it was relayed to all Ultra participants before the race where the new out n back would be and there was tall barrier and sign posted where the out n back was.
Bryan, I also saw at least 3 ultra runners who were backtracking because they missed the turn. One poor guy probably added more than a mile to his run by having to do that. No doubt some runners didn’t realize they’d missed it until it was way too late, maybe at the point were the add on was originally supposed to be, so they just did the full instead.
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