Monday, May 20, 2013

I Called Him Out!

Yesterday, I ran the Memphis in May Olympic Triathlon, and I had a pretty good race. I will be doing a race report soon, but first I had something else I needed to vent about.

Yesterday was a long day, there were strong winds on the bike and very hot temps on the run, so everyone was not doing great on the run. But we all ran the course, or least most of us did.

On the run section, there was one section that is a down and back, and it is the one portion of the run I always dread. It is hot and there is no shade and it seems to go on forever! So I had gone around the turnaround point and was heading back to the hotel. Once you make the turn, you can see the runners coming towards you as you are running. I was just passing mile 4 when I saw this guy running towards me when he cut across the entire road to my side and went to the shoulder and started stretching. I yelled to him "You OK?" and he said something about he was just cramping. Maybe it is because of my job, but I instantly thought that what he did wasn't right. I mean why would he cross the road to stretch when he could have stretched on his side?

Like I said, it was hot, so I decided I needed to walk to the next cone, when I look to my right and there is the guy. Running right besides me! So I said "Feeling better?" and he tells me again it was just cramps. My reply was simply, "you cut the course, I saw you run from other side of the road to the shoulder" He then claimed that he was running as a relay, which made no sense. I told him that relays went the same 6.2 miles as everyone else. His next reply was "I don't have to explain anything to you". My only reply was simply, "no you don't but you also have to know that you cheated and I hope you can sleep at night" Great comeback huh?

That incident helped fuel my last 2 miles, as I was pissed at this guy. After I finished, I talked it over with a friend of mine, and then I went and found a race official and told him what happened. Now, according to the official results, this racer cheater had no penalty time added, and I can't say that the officials actually looked into it, but I did my part. I respect the race too much to let someone cheat. I know the hours I put into my training, along with 99% of the other racers, to not say anything. And I fear that this happens more than I realized.

Somedays you just don't have it. I get that, but do not cheat someone out of a spot because you decide to cut the course. Run the race, get what you earn!

9 comments:

  1. Makes you wonder if his FB page says "Cramped up, wasnt feeling 100%, totally PR the 10K with a blazing xx:xx pace"

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  2. WTF. Why would someone do this? If you aren't feeling well, go to the med tent & DNF...Don't cheat!

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  3. The way I look at it is unless you are top 3 in your AG there really is only one person that is cheated in the whole thing and he has to look in the mirror each day

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  4. Wow, I've never seen that before. I won't say it's not crossed my mind, like man I could just turn around...I'm so tired, but you are only cheating yourself and you would always know even if no one else did...and that would just SUCK. I could never give up on myself like that. If that guy can cheat in a race, he does a lot worse in his personal life. Pretty pathetic!

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  5. Never seen anyone cheat on the run (although I assumn it happens).

    I do see a TON of cheaters on the bike. I have been passed on every race by several pelotons.

    At Ironman Augusta 70.3, a peloton nearly took me out. I had a more than a few unsportsman like comments for the last rider.

    Kevin
    HalfTRIing.blogspot.com

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  6. I've never seen anyone cheat on the run but I once walked into a porta potty and debated on never coming out and that says A LOT considering I was trapped inside with hot shit.

    Now, I've been in the same shoes as Kevin (above). last year at MIM there was some serious peloton action going on, I would play games where when they would pass me, I would try and sprint to catch them until I died. I can't imagine how they didn't get in trouble.

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  7. If you are going to cut the course, cut it like a man. What I mean by that is that when you come close to finishing, do not cross that finish line. Instead, give your chip to a volunteer and withdraw. If you don't, you are not cheating yourself. You are cheating your team (if there was in fact a relay) and many other people.

    There was a story about one of the guys on my try team that cut the out and back at Kona. He supposedly had a miraculous resurrection and finished top 10 AG. One guy, who passed him twice, called him out. He denied that he cheated until he couldn't anymore (I think race pictures were involved). He only then confessed.

    It then turned into, if he cheated once, did he cheat to get into Kona? If he cheated in a race, would he cheat at work? At life?

    So the summary is you are either a cheater. Or you are not.

    You are not. He is. He probably doesn't even think he was wrong. Pity.

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