London Marathon – Bib Swapper Claims Age Group Award

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There have been plenty of reports of course cutting and bib swapping at The London Marathon. There have also been plenty of false alarms ( more on that at the end of the article).

London has been vigilant regarding their results. Some would argue too tough. Last year the ”Running Scamp” was thrown in jail after picking up a bib and running across the finish and collecting a medal. 

Georgina finished third place in the Female 55-59 Age Group with a time of 3:14:06.

This is clearly not Georgina. Will this runner be charged with fraud, like the homeless runner from last year? Will he, or Georgina, be thrown into jail? Probably not.

As it stands now Georgina is still in third place. I expect she will be disqualified, and likely banned. The runner wearing her bib has not been identified.

False Alarms

I’ve received a number of emails from runners who believed that their bibs were forged. When checking their photos, they are seeing other runners with the same bib number that they legitimately wore.

What I found is that there are some photos from The 2018 London marathon intermingled with runners’ 2019 photos. When runners search for their photos, they are assuming that the other runners appearing in their search results forged their bib. In reality, they are seeing photos from The 2018 London Marathon.

If you think someone copied your London Marathon bib, check the 2018 photos before reporting this to the race or to Marathon Investigation.

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11 COMMENTS

  1. Male, young and with quads like that, but he can only place third in the Female 55-59 age group? He’s a loser on so many levels. I’d like to meet those top two ladies!

  2. Puts me up to 7th then! So annoying that people do this. It’s a nightmare for race organisers & so unfair on other runners😡

  3. I get that he placed third.
    London Marathons a massive run with many high quality club runners of all ages involved. Its also incredibly difficult to get in unless you do a charity place (and they expect many thousands of pounds, and sue you if you don’t make the fundraising target). Even if you meet the very high “good for age” qualications you still aren’t gaureenteed a place. I agree they should ban the bib swappers but I do have a little sympathy.

    • @ab: I don’t understand your ‘I do have a little sympathy” comment. Can you explain on how you justify your view? Bib swapping is against the rules. Period.

    • I am the lady that is currently 4th behind ‘Georgina’ so no sympathy at all.
      If you are prepared to take a charity place you can get in to London.
      I also train really hard to get my place.

  4. “What I found is that there are some photos from The 2018 London marathon intermingled with runners’ 2019 photos. ”

    Derek, the photos are from the big vitality half NOT last years marathon. I noticed this with my number..

  5. Well, as the event organisers asked for 7:30 pacers it seems they were absolutely fine with people completing at that pace, just a shame they didn’t tell all their staff and contractors.

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