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London Marathon Cheaters - let's do this
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He went onto finish in seven hours plus. He must have paid someone to carry his chip there for a bet or something. He was a horse trainer and his pic was in the papers - I'd never have found his time otherwise.
MC9876 suggests he probably had a GFA place based on his start. Power of 10 gives his PB as 4:26:15, but he looks to have been credited with a GFA time at the Yorkshire Marathon 2016, finishing in 3:13:19 (15 seconds behind me, which helps to fuel my interest in him). Here are his race photos: https://www.marathon-photos.com/scripts/event.py?template=MPX2&new_search=1&event=Sports%2FCPUK%2F2016%2FYorkshire%20Marathon&match=2348. Judge for yourselves whether it’s the same bloke, but apart from looking different and running faster, he also has the name “Mike” on his vest.
So we seem to have someone who used a mule to earn a GFA place so he could run London, and then having cheated his way in couldn’t be bothered to run the whole thing so cheated while he was there too. I’m struggling to think of an innocent explanation for this.
Click search without adding details, and you get a list of all finishers (except the elite, they are on a different tab. I've checked them and they all seem legit
> Following MC9876’s comment, I’m developing a strange fascination with Alex Bos. This year he finished in 3:14:13 having gone through half way in 2:11:18. His chip didn’t register at 25k or 30k. He clearly didn’t do the whole course. Here he is with his medal:
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> MC9876 suggests he probably had a GFA place based on his start. Power of 10 gives his PB as 4:26:15, but he looks to have been credited with a GFA time at the Yorkshire Marathon 2016, finishing in 3:13:19 (15 seconds behind me, which helps to fuel my interest in him). Here are his race photos: https://www.marathon-photos.com/scripts/event.py?template=MPX2&new_search=1&event=Sports/CPUK/2016/Yorkshire Marathon&match=2348. Judge for yourselves whether it’s the same bloke, but apart from looking different and running faster, he also has the name “Mike” on his vest.
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> So we seem to have someone who used a mule to earn a GFA place so he could run London, and then having cheated his way in couldn’t be bothered to run the whole thing so cheated while he was there too. I’m struggling to think of an innocent explanation for this.
Top sleuthing!
Surprised he got past security on the mall .
Wonder if Mike knows?
> Also alex has cut down his number. Automatic DQ.
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> Surprised he got past security on the mall .
He finished with a lot of gel packs too
Claims to have dropped out but why run through the finish and get a medal? His Strava profile shows his marathon PB as 4:26 from Manchester in 2016.
Rory O'Connor (49808) has also managed to get from halfway to 35k in 15 mins - just over 1min per km! :open_mouth:
I don’t think it’s hard to get a place, but I think it does sell out. It looks like Mike worked hard for it, so not a classic mule. Perhaps opportunism, as you suggest, rather than an evil plan right from the beginning, but he’ll have had plenty of time to think it through between entering and running.