Cheated out of 5k win

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SaltyBagels
SaltyBagels Posts: 2 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So I'm typically a decent 5k age grouper/top 5 female when it comes to the small, local 5k Saturday run. I've never actually won the overall female title, but I've come pretty close. Yesterday I ran a small 5k, and during the run I realized there were no other women in front of me. Spectators and volunteers were telling me I was the first female. Getting excited, I tried to pick up the pace, stoked about the possibility of actually winning the women's division. Nobody passed me in the entire race. I was passing people the last mile. I crossed the finish line with my hopes high that I had actually done it! I stuck around for the awards ceremony, because I was certain I had at least come in third. After announcing the third and second place winners, my heart jumped because I thought it was my name was actually going to be announced next! Nope, it wasn't! I was slightly let down, but I accepted it. It was certainly possible that there were three other women in front of me that no one had seen. And I worked hard, kept up with the front of the pack, had a fun morning, and I enjoyed myself. No big deal!

But I'm still skeptical. The course was an odd one, where we were required to run three of the same laps, each about the length of a mile. The three girls who placed in front of me had virtually the same finish times as each other. Their chip time was 30 seconds slower than their gun time. I only had a 3 second difference between chip and gun time. I should have seen the three of them passing me. I was a huge creep and researched them, hoping I could find past race results of theirs to compare their times to. They have no history of running that I can find. So, I'm pretty sure they only ran two laps instead of the three. There were no timing mats on the course except at the start/finish, so there is no definite proof. It's really not that big of a deal, because I know that I ran well, I'm proud of myself, and I participated in an event that raised funds for a good cause. But I can't help but feel that I've been robbed of something. So I'm bummed. I told my boyfriend about it, but he just didn't understand how let down I felt (he is not a runner, lol). So I guess the point of this post is to just vent, but if anyone has any similar stories, or scandalous cheating stories, I'd love to hear them!
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Replies

  • __TMac__
    __TMac__ Posts: 1,665 Member
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    I would feel the same way. I'm sorry to hear that. Very frustrating. You should definitely be proud of how well you did, but I agree that it's a competitive event, not a fun run. You're in it for the results, and it matters.

    Maybe provide some respectful feedback to the organizers that if they're not going to have mats, they need to verify some other way. And let them know why. I've run small races where they just had volunteers making note of bib numbers at multiple points so that if there was any question, they'd at least have documentation.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Surely if they only did 2 laps there chip time would have been massively quicker than everyone who did 3?
  • MobyCarp
    MobyCarp Posts: 2,927 Member
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    TavistockToad wrote: »
    Surely if they only did 2 laps there chip time would have been massively quicker than everyone who did 3?

    Not necessarily. If they ran two laps at a 12 minute pace per mile, their time would be about the same as someone who ran 3 laps at an 8 minute per mile pace. There is a wide variation in runners' paces. I know women who run 12 and 13 minute miles regardless of distance, and I know women who run 7 and 8 minute miles in shorter races. And of course there are women with paces everywhere between.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    MobyCarp wrote: »
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    Surely if they only did 2 laps there chip time would have been massively quicker than everyone who did 3?

    Not necessarily. If they ran two laps at a 12 minute pace per mile, their time would be about the same as someone who ran 3 laps at an 8 minute per mile pace. There is a wide variation in runners' paces. I know women who run 12 and 13 minute miles regardless of distance, and I know women who run 7 and 8 minute miles in shorter races. And of course there are women with paces everywhere between.

    Good point!
  • amtyrell
    amtyrell Posts: 1,449 Member
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    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosie_Ruiz

    In the Boston marathon once someone cheated and was declared the top female only to be stripped of the title a bit over a week later.
  • MobyCarp
    MobyCarp Posts: 2,927 Member
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    Another thought, thinking the best I can of these unknown women: If they were really inexperienced runners, and running together socially, they may have lost count, run 2 laps, thought they ran 3, and not known enough to realize the 1-2-3 finish was implausible. It *could* happen that way.

    I recall a 5K race where I won the M 55-59 age group, and I noted the winner of the 60-64 age group was faster than me. I mentioned it to a friend, who knew the guy. He wasn't really in the 60-64 age group, he was in the 50-54 age group. I later met him, and he's a nice guy and a good runner. To the best of my knowledge, he left before the awards ceremony and never learned of the mistake with his age. I think he would have offered a correction if he had been there to hear the announcement.
  • autumnblade75
    autumnblade75 Posts: 1,660 Member
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    I had the same experience last year. 3 loops of the same course, 6 women ahead of me, all won awards in their respective age groups. 2 women in my age group purportedly finished ahead of me, but I never saw them, and they didn't stay for the awards, either.

    I may still be bitter, but I did my best, and if they cheated, it's on them. They may not have even considered that their results would affect anyone else, even if they miscounted their laps or intentionally only ran 2. Not staying for the awards ceremony seems to imply that they didn't realize they were due medals.

    My solution to avoid this type of situation in the future is not to enter races that include multiple laps of a course that don't also include a timing mat to record lap times.
  • rugratz2015
    rugratz2015 Posts: 593 Member
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    How disappointing for you! Unfortunately there are cheats in every sport, and sometimes mistakes are made but the organisers need to ensure that if they are giving out prizes that they are going to the ones that earned them.
  • scorpio516
    scorpio516 Posts: 955 Member
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    SaltyBagels wrote: »
    The three girls who placed in front of me had virtually the same finish times as each other. Their chip time was 30 seconds slower than their gun time. I only had a 3 second difference between chip and gun time. I should have seen the three of them passing me.

    That depends. IF they beat you by less than 27 seconds, they finished behind you, gun time
  • SaltyBagels
    SaltyBagels Posts: 2 Member
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    MobyCarp wrote: »
    Another thought, thinking the best I can of these unknown women: If they were really inexperienced runners, and running together socially, they may have lost count, run 2 laps, thought they ran 3, and not known enough to realize the 1-2-3 finish was implausible. It *could* happen that way.

    I'm more inclined to believe this is what happened. I don't think it was intentional on their part. Still stinks though.


    scorpio516 wrote: »
    SaltyBagels wrote: »
    The three girls who placed in front of me had virtually the same finish times as each other. Their chip time was 30 seconds slower than their gun time. I only had a 3 second difference between chip and gun time. I should have seen the three of them passing me.

    That depends. IF they beat you by less than 27 seconds, they finished behind you, gun time

    One of the girls' results: Nettime: 19:41 Guntime: 20:10
    My nettime was 20:20 Guntime: 20:23. So they would have finished in front of me, right? Good point, though.
  • JessM822
    JessM822 Posts: 73 Member
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    If they were wearing a chip it would've flagged the system if the chip didn't pass all check points. There's always one check point in a timed race. Look them up and see what they did each lap in.
  • autumnblade75
    autumnblade75 Posts: 1,660 Member
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    JessM822 wrote: »
    If they were wearing a chip it would've flagged the system if the chip didn't pass all check points. There's always one check point in a timed race. Look them up and see what they did each lap in.

    In my race, there were mats at start and finish, but nothing inside the looped area. If it hadn't been part of a 3-race series (and I never did get my coffee cup!) with a great discount to run all 3 races, I probably wouldn't have run it because of the route design.
  • Bianca42
    Bianca42 Posts: 310 Member
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    I'm sorry. I was walking in a 5K that you ran halfway on one side of the road and then came back on the other side of the road. It was a crazy hot-day and was walking with a coworker and her daughter. The daughter felt sick from the heat and they turned back. I was a little irked that on our work team it showed them finishing before me even though I did the whole thing and they didn't. (I do know that they waited to turn back until the majority of the runners were past, so there is no way they placed.)
  • zdyb23456
    zdyb23456 Posts: 1,706 Member
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    I don't blame you. I'd be upset too.
  • kavahni
    kavahni Posts: 313 Member
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    Irksome! But, it could've been the hardware. Recently, my teenage son was unable to run in a 5k we'd both signed up for. I thought maybe this would be my chance to "beat" him for once. So I pinned my race bib (with Chip timer ) on my front, and folded up his and put it in the pouch in my back. Ha-ha! I would beat him by may be a one hundredth of a second. When the results were posted, I had beaten him, indeed. By 30 seconds. Huh? Not at all sure how that happened.
  • slaite1
    slaite1 Posts: 1,307 Member
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    kavahni wrote: »
    Irksome! But, it could've been the hardware. Recently, my teenage son was unable to run in a 5k we'd both signed up for. I thought maybe this would be my chance to "beat" him for once. So I pinned my race bib (with Chip timer ) on my front, and folded up his and put it in the pouch in my back. Ha-ha! I would beat him by may be a one hundredth of a second. When the results were posted, I had beaten him, indeed. By 30 seconds. Huh? Not at all sure how that happened.

    That is absolutely hilarious
  • pondee629
    pondee629 Posts: 2,469 Member
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    But, after all is said and done, how did YOU do compared to YOU?
    Personal Best?
    Personal Best on that track?
    Good/Great time for this time in the season?
    Felt good for the entire run and looking forward to the next one?
  • Charlene_1985
    Charlene_1985 Posts: 122 Member
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    The last 10K I did was also a 5K run. They awarded 1st place in the 10K to a 5K finisher. I came in 2nd but got a 3rd place medal. They corrected the website but I'm bummed about my award. Completely understand your frustrations and I'm sorry this happened. I only brought it to the attention of the race director with proof of the woman's photos at the finish line and her 5K bib. I also knew I was the second female the entire race.
  • ko4q
    ko4q Posts: 46 Member
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    Yeah, I totally get it. A few years back I ran a 25K trail race. Placed 2nd over all (hello unicorn-rare podium finish!), but unfortunately when they pulled my bib (no chip, they took the bottom perforated half of my bib) it apparently got mixed up. Awards for top 3 females, but my name wasn't announced. Before I could do anything, the gift certificates were given out and the picture already snapped for the local paper. Totally bummed! I was also in a 10K race placing 3rd overall, prizes for top finisher overall and AG winners. Since the 2nd place finisher was not in my AG, I had mine locked up. But nope, for some reason, they gave the overall finisher, who was in my AG, the 1st place award AND the AG award. Ugh! I've also seen people completely cheat--trail races with switchbacks, one runner basically ignoring the switchback/marked trail and running through the trees cutting off a quarter to half mile of distance. But for both races, they were PRs so I was at least satisfied somewhat with that. Ultimately, you get over it even though it sucks, hopefully it was still a good race for you!
  • helenrenee007
    helenrenee007 Posts: 19 Member
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    Yes, I ran a race like that as well and quite a few people only did 2 laps when they should have done 3. I was annoyed as well. You have a right to be annoyed.

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