Marathon Coach’s Explanation Questioned in Alleged Bib Fraud Case – “Bib in Pocket”

By Derek
April 11, 2025

Follow-Up: Manchester Marathon Bib Fraud

In the original Marathon Investigation article, I presented evidence of bib fraud at the 2024 Manchester Marathon involving Mike and his coach, Daniel Geisler. Official results, video footage, and social media activity indicated that Geisler ran the race wearing Mike’s bib — earning Mike a fraudulent finish time and a potential Good For Age (GFA) qualifying mark for the 2025 London Marathon.

For context: gaining entry into the London Marathon is incredibly difficult — especially through legitimate channels. There are two primary ways in: the Good For Age standard or the public ballot (lottery). The GFA route demands not only meeting strict time standards by age and gender but also being faster than many other qualifiers due to limited spots. The lottery is even more daunting, with hundreds of thousands of applicants and long odds of selection.

That’s what makes bib muling — when one runner carries another’s bib to produce a result or qualifying time — such a serious offense. It undermines the integrity of the sport and potentially robs a legitimate runner of a spot in one of the most sought-after races in the world.

Coach Responds with Public Comment

Daniel Geisler mentioned in a follow-up email (see below) that he had submitted a comment to the original article. That comment reads:

“This is brilliant , isn’t the case , Mike didn’t take his bib on the day due to injury, it was left in my pocket. Mike isn’t doing London and doesn’t have a good for age place. But this is a fantastic read. And from the outside does make a lot of sense. Have a wonderful day.”

“Not Even True?”

Shortly after submitting the comment, Geisler emailed me directly. The subject line: “Nonsense.”

From: Daniel Geisler [email redacted]
Date: April 10, 2025 at 5:37 PM

I commented on your article? But you haven’t accepted it yet.

Not sure why you have sent me this? Esp as it isn’t even true?

He’s not even running London Marathon?

So maybe just take it down…. Because you look a bit silly?

Ignore this if you want. But that’s your choice.

Kindest regards,

Dan Geisler

Sent from my iPhone

My response:

But you ran carrying his bib and he is in the official results.

He seemed to reference London in earlier posts… but not so much recently. That was not confirmed and I’ll add that caveat.

However,

As a coach and a participant in many events, you had to have known carrying the bib would result in him showing in the results.

Why hold onto it?

Why would you have it in the first place on the day of the race?

–Derek

My Observations

Geisler’s explanation raises a number of concerns:

• Why bring the bib at all? The Manchester Marathon mails bibs directly to registered participants several weeks before race day. That is the standard procedure — there is no race-day bib pickup. Under normal circumstances, Mike would have received his bib well in advance of the event. In the unlikely event there was an exception to this process and the bib was mailed to Geisler instead, the question becomes even more troubling: Why bring it to the race at all? Mike was reportedly injured and not competing. If Geisler was aware of that — and by his own account, he was — what justification is there for showing up at the start line with someone else’s bib in your pocket? Runners don’t bring unused bibs to the start line, especially not for someone else. There’s no practical reason for it unless the intent is to wear it or trigger a result. And any experienced runner — let alone a coach — knows that once a chipped bib crosses the timing mats, a finish time is recorded.
• Photo evidence: I obtained official race photos. In the image below, Geisler is wearing compression shorts — with limited or no storage capacity: Could someone cram a bib into compression shorts? Possibly. But no one does that for a full marathon without a specific reason. It’s impractical and uncomfortable — unless there’s a deliberate intent to carry that bib through the course.
• Timing matters: Running the race with Mike’s bib and chip triggered a finish time that now appears in the official results. That’s not an accident — that’s how the system is designed. And Geisler, a coach and veteran of many events, would certainly know that.
• Evidence of intent: In a prior Strava post, Mike captioned a workout with “26.2 loading” and used emojis of the London Eye, Buckingham guards and, the UK flag. It signaled clear intent to run the London Marathon.

Taken together — the photos, the timing data, the public posts, and the implausibility of the coach’s explanation — the story that the bib was simply “left in my pocket” doesn’t hold up. In my opinion, it’s not just weak — it’s a cover.

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—Derek