Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Elderly but "fast" London Marathon runner who took short cut gets caught

An often-overlooked method of completing a marathon among the top finishers is to cut out some of the 26 mile distance.

Shrewd, yes. Is it cheating? Definitely.

Sixty-nine year-old Anthony Gaskell took a short cut in April's London Marathon, although it took race organizers six weeks to remove his lighting-fast time from the official results. 3 hours 5 minutes is quick for a runner of any age.

Gaskell, who was injured during the race, says the whole thing was an accident:

I simply walked through a short cut to the end of the course where my belongings were waiting for me. I had no idea that anyone thought I'd won.

I didn't bother to check the website for the final standings because I knew I had dropped out.
Runners in all major marathons wear timing chips, which is what tripped up Gaskell.

Colin Rathbone, whose finishing time was 38 seconds behind Gaskell's discredited time, was declared the winner of the over-65 competition.

As the sixty-six year-old pointed out, he performed well on marathon day:

It was the best time in ten years. When I was told I had been beaten I thought, "What the heck do you have to do to win this thing?."
Sometimes all you have to do is wait.

Related post:

My 20th consecutive Chicago Marathon

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