Pants on Fire – Cheating in Endurance Sports

From Marathon Investigation
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Runner Disqualified After Claiming 2nd Place in Fort Lauderdale Half Marathon

The initial 2nd place finisher of the Ft. Lauderdale A1A Half Marathon was disqualified Sunday night. She cut the course.
Splits:
10K – 44:22
13.1 – 1:21:46
These results would equate to a 7:09 minute/mile pace for the 1st 10k and a 5:25 minute/mile pace for remaining 11.08 kilometers.
After the race, she denied having cut the course. She approached other runners and race officials to defend her time. She was on the podium to accept the 2nd place award.
Shortly after the race she posted this to her Strava account.

One member commented on the lack of data. This entry was posted manually and was not linked to any GPS data.
Later that afternoon, she made another Strava entry. This one shows that she did indeed travel the entire course.
She had this labeled as a run, and the total time almost matches her original time for the 1/2 marathon. The cadence data is more consistent with what you would expect on a bike ride, not a run. Also, through the Flyby screen, I was able to confirm that she actually covered this course in the afternoon – long after the race was complete.
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RELATED – Age Group Triathletes doping – From Slowtwitch
Ironman AG Champ Gets 4yr Doping Ban
The IRONMAN® Anti-Doping Program announced that American age-group athlete Holly Balogh tested positive for a prohibited substance and has accepted a four-year suspension. Ms. Balogh’s positive sample was collected at the 2016 IRONMAN® North American Championship Texas, which took place on May 14, 2016. Her 4-year suspension commenced, according to Ironman’s release, on July 11, 2016.
Balogh’s sample tested positive for the presence of an exogenous testosterone and/or its metabolites, according to Ironman, which was confirmed by Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) analysis. Ironman noted that Ms. Balogh did not apply for a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE).
Read the full story…