Not had time to review the whole population but have reviewed the middle third of the men's results.
Runner 51150 - skipped the 25k mat - he ran over Tower Bridge very close to me but then finished nearly half an hour before me....
Runner 21921 - skipped multiple mats in the middle section of the course. Also doesn't look as old as the category he's running in.
Runner 35546 - missed the 25k and 30k mats - his second half was nearly an hour faster than the first half.
Runner 43227 - went straight from the 10k to the 40k mat; he's wearing quite a natty black jacket in all his pictures - which are all from the last 2k of the race.
Comments
Not all those will be deliberate cheats - some will abandon at tower bridge and walk to the finish to collect their bag without realising that they'll automatically get a time, even if they're not picking up a medal & t shirt.
OTOH a few will do it deliberately to get a GFA/Boston Qualifier.
Well out of that lot I vote 35546 as the biggest cheat. He did the 14km between 21km and 35km in just over 28mins.
On his detailed results, he must be really pleased with this
Over first 35k
&
I assume they got chatting after half way. Bet 21846 wouldn't have been so keen on the conversation had he known the other guy had cut a chunk off the course!
Problem was was if I had jumped the barrier I'd have been leading the race and been well below World Record pace, so I'm not sure I'd have got away with it!
I have DNF'd before, just after half way. I'd also have been leading the race if I'd hopped the barrier so it really wasn't an option - and I was in no fit state to even walk very far anyway let alone run to the finish.
I have to say though it's not that clear when you do make it to the finish area what you need to do. I assumed I'd have to somehow find the lorry my bag was in, but in fact there is a small area to one side where all the DNFs have to go, then someone goes and gets your bag for you. The first few marshals I asked weren't too sure about this - can't blame them as there was so much going on at the time and they all have their specific jobs to do, so it did take a while. I can certainly see that if someone did end up going back to the finish by rejoining the course they probably would go through the line as it might seem like the only option.
I'd be emailing or letting marshals know at the end though.
That's interesting Freemers - I didn't know about the DNF area.
cougie - yeah they hide us all away in our shame! Bizarrely when I was there I bumped into a guy I know who'd also dropped out, and who I'd also bumped into at the start, when neither of us actually knew the other was running. Out of 36,000 odd runners those were some odds.
BTW, pretty sure he didn't cheat, but just amazed at the coincidence!
Saw a great one from Boston too, some guy had been caught missing the same 5k mat every year, which happened to be near Heartbreak Hill, and which happened to have a tube stop before and after. One year the tubes were off, and apparently his pictures show him with his car keys out at this point! Also, one year he must have really screwed it up because he didn't qualify - no problem, he just copied someone else's number and there were great pics of him and the guy who genuinely had that number in the same race.
Anyone ever thought of cutting out the isle of dogs? Not my favourite part of the route, so as you come out of Westferry Circus on the bottom level, how about just turning round and heading up to the top level and carrying on from there?
Let's face it, there's loads of cheating goes on, and the vast majority of it isn't by accident. Has anyone here ever had a timing chip fail and then miraculously start working again later? Ever? Funny how it always happens near a potential short cut. Appreciate that there are people who have to drop out and might "finish" unintentionally, but pretty sure it's a small minority. I reckon they should be able to flag up obvious discrepancies and when an obvious anomaly runs over the line, the individual should be put in a holding area until their guilt or innocence is established. Then they should either be released to collect their medal or put into stocks to have unused gels poured over their heads and be made to pop everyone's blisters for them.
Sorry, Friday late pm, and just feeling a bit naughty. Hope link ok, that shows the real man running, same hair and knees, but looks so different in the group photo. Got to be either him or someone from that running club, as the chap he's talking to is part of one of the local groups that they race against.
On a separate note - can you imagine having a separate finishing funnel with DNF in large letters over it? Most wouldn't have a clue. Unless the words were changed to something else though.
21921 - I thought the age category looked wrong - maybe it was this guy's son?
Realise this is all nit-picking. Guess I had a vested interest this year because I had a nightmare second half and would have loved to jump the barrier.
I don't believe anyone can 'accidentally cheat' - if you do drop out after halfway then walking along the marathon route is never going to be the quickest way back - you'd only do that if you were deliberately aiming to get a finish time?
Not sure why any of them did it - don't think any of their times were GFA or BQ?
As someone who has had a few DNFs, Halstead, White Peaks come to mind, then I am almost OCD about taking off my number and making sure I do not cross anywhere near the finishing line.
Why these "runners" cheat is beyond me, other than that they are rarely club runners, but not exclusively. My club had one of the more notorious ones who denied everything even in the face of overwhelming if circumstantial evidence. Very strange.