![]() ![]() Murphy sees many different kinds of cheating. By day, Murphy is a business analyst, but he’s become better known as the man behind Marathon Investigation, a blog that for the past three years has been relentlessly exposing cheaters in the marathon world. Several nights a week, Derek Murphy settles down in front of the TV at his home in Cincinnati, opens up his spreadsheets and gets to work. This provides more accurate times – but it also gives organisers, and anyone who cares to look, a wealth of data to examine for suspicious results. Competitors are now kitted out with electronic chips that register runners’ progress as they pass over timing mats installed around the course. As technology has improved, marathon cheating has become more of a high-risk endeavour. (In some cases, more than a handful: thousands of runners were disqualified after this year’s Mexico City Marathon.) It’s difficult to know if the problem is on the rise or if there are simply more offenders being caught. Nowadays, after almost every major race, a handful of competitors is exposed as cheats. (Bib bandits – runners who forge race numbers to secure entry to events – are a related but distinct category.) Then there are the course cutters, who engage in that most rudimentary cheating tactic: jumping a barrier or ducking under some tape to skip a section of the course. There are the bib mules: runners who compete under another competitor’s race number, typically in order to record a qualifying time for another prestigious race. Setting aside doping, marathon cheats can be divided into two main categories. They were only caught when photos emerged of the two men wearing watches on opposite wrists at different stages of the course. At the 1999 Comrades 55-mile ultra-marathon in South Africa, two brothers claimed ninth position after running the race in relay, swapping clothes in toilets along the route. Kip Litton, a dentist from Michigan, allegedly cheated numerous times in a bid to run marathons in every state – and claimed first place in a race of his own invention. Suspicions were raised by Ruiz’s unflustered appearance at the finish line and witnesses later reported seeing her joining the course with less than a mile to go. ![]() In 1980, the Boston Marathon was won by Rosie Ruiz, who set a women’s course record. Photograph: APįor a sport with few material rewards, marathon running has produced some illustrious cheats. A few days later it was shown that she had only run the last mile or so of the course and was disqualified. “But what I couldn’t understand was: why had he done it?”įinished: Rosie Ruiz is helped by Boston police after winning the women’s division of the Boston Marathon in 1980 in a new record time. Meanwhile, Cairns was awarded his third place medal. ![]() UK Athletics followed suit and Sloan disappeared from the running scene. Despite the evidence against him, Sloan retracted his confession. “Then he eventually owned up to it.” The BBC reported the story and, soon enough, the tale of the marathon bus cheat had been picked up all over the world. “He absolutely denied it initially,” says Cram. Race organiser Steve Cram, the Olympic 1,500m runner, called Sloan. Witnesses clearly recalled seeing Sloan during the last few miles of the race – just not on the course. Then there was the most damning evidence of all. Photographs suggested he was missing from the race with a few miles to go. No other runners could recall him passing them on the trail. In the hours after the race, troubling details about his performance began to emerge. Cairns placed a hand on Sloan’s shoulder. Cairns had exchanged nods with him on the start line this was the first time he’d seen him since. There was no mistaking him: Sloan had a mohican haircut and distinctive tattoos. It was Rob Sloan, the winner of a 10k race held the day before. “Fourth?” He asked a marshal to point out who was third. ![]() “I’m thinking, did I hear that right?” he says. As he crossed the finish line, he heard his result called over the PA. “I’m just going to enjoy this,” he decided.Ĭairns held on to his position and finished the race comfortably. He was equally confident that, with a six-minute gap to close, the rest of the field had little chance of catching him. Cairns knew he had little chance of catching the front-runners. Behind him, just passing the 13-mile point, were the chasing pack. As he passed the 14-mile mark, he could see the two leading runners, Ricky Lightfoot and Marcus Scotney, a few minutes ahead on the trail. Just over halfway through the 2011 Kielder Marathon in Northumberland, Steve Cairns was in third place and out on his own. ![]()
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