Tell an official, whether it had a bearing on the podium or not. Cheaters need to be removed from sport.

I'd also call out the cheater, in front of his friends and family. But I'm a confrontational person who stirs the pot more than once a day. To each their own.

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I talk to myself because mine are the only answers I'll accept - George Carlin

Was it blatant cheating? I would be quite perturbed if I watched this happen for a competitor on a superbike with an aero helmet and a disc wheel, but if the person was riding a hybrid and wearing a camel back during sprint race I would just move on with my day and chalk it up to ignorance.

It is interesting they confronted you afterwords. It is also funny that you accused them of cheating and the defense was he was just helping his friend... haha. That is specifically what you accused them of!

I do not think it is always as black and white as some people seem to suggest though. To that end, I am guessing even people who believe cheating is cheating and all cheating should be reported would not report a guy they saw wearing a helmet mirror. My point is a gray area exists. Where this incident falls on that spectrum I am not sure, but it may not always be so cut and dry.

On a related note, my wife was spectating my 70.3 this weekend and on mile 4-5 she saw some blatant outside assistance. Guy passed a patio bar and accepted one of the patron's beers, stopped, and chugged it before continuing on. He obviously became that bar's crowd favorite, but man, that is early in the run to be chugging a beer. I wonder if that cheater regretted that decision come mile 8 or so.

Experienced something along the same lines this weekend at a smaller sprint, though I'm not sure I would characterize it as cheating. Saw 2d in my AG miss a turn (likely ran the previous iteration of the course?)...a fellow teammate saw him come back on the course later, but he finished, didn't inform officials, and then left. I asked timing officials if he had DQ'd himself; he did not. They stated that unless an official saw it, there was nothing that could be done...which sucks, as I didn't see a single official on the entire course. I had hoped to ask the competitor to DQ himself, but he hadn't hung around, and would guess he was aware.

Had he finished the right course, he likely would have achieved the same placement. Nevertheless, I'd want to think that if you mess up, you own it and move on to another day.

This was blatant cheating and wasn't spur of the moment thinking. The way it was done it was planned, this was the second race of a series on a course that is run all the time so they knew exactly what and where to do it. It was funny because when we confronted them the racer admitted to what they did but said he was cheating or breaking a rule and his friend denied it like it never happened. It's over, reported and nothing will happen unfortunately.

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Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right!

Cheating? there are cyclocross races where taking beer hand-ups are mandatory... Good on the guy for not taking himself too seriously...


As for the OP, report it to an official. There are very tight timelines for violations and results revision processes... waiting until days later to e-mail the RD are far too late (for anything except some of the major course cutting scandals...). As an official, I'd welcome athletes pointing out potential infractions especially cheating. We try to catch stuff, but can't be everywhere at once. In terms of talking to the athlete as it happens, if it looks like it's unintentional, I would say something (or if it's a correctable offense, i.e. cutting a turn or something, where they could go back to the site of the infraction and re-enter the course...), otherwise, I'd expect them to get angry... As an athlete, I've lost out on a podium to an athlete who skipped a bike lap (rode 3/4... they DQ'd another person in the same race, she only did 2/4 laps, and for her to have done the whole distance (20km) she would have had to average 60 km/h... but they didn't DQ this guy because his time was plausible, if it were legit, it would have been the #3 bike split (except that i rode the legit #3 bike split), he never passed me in the race, yet finished 1:30 ahead of me nudging me down to 4th place... I gave him the option to fess up to it, but he claimed he did nothing wrong... 1st and 2nd place were friends of mine, and refused to allow the photographer to do a podium picture of the 3, because they knew it wasn't legit...). I also lost to someone who probably cut 150m on the run in a recent super sprint race taking the overall win (he turned at the turn around ahead sign, not the actual turn around)... That said, I did not protest the result, because his lead was so large before that point (and I was in second), it in no way affected the outcome of the race (we only realized that he had cut the course, when we were chatting waiting for the awards when he mentioned it was weird that there was noone at the turnaround, and we realized that he didn't turn the corner to the actual turnaround where there were 3 volunteers), and I would have felt like I was cheating to try and use that to snatch away the win...

The Ghost of Chuckie V?

If I remember correctly, Chuckie had already made up his mind to DNF when he took the beer that day in Kona, but did NOT expect the DQ and subsequent 12-month ban

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Exactly the race I was thinking....

First thing I thought of as well. Where the hell is Chuckie? Last sighting was about 3 maybe 4 years ago?

IDK, couple weeks ago I was in a race where there was an 80 year old man using a front electric hub, only one in his category. I shook his hand and said "God Bless You!"

I'm not saying you're wrong, and I'm not saying they didn't cheat. But why would anyone want a pacer on the bike? You can easily get your instantaneous speed from any of a number of products, which is all a pacer provides.

I understand why some people ride directly behind someone else - to cut down on air resistance. But I don't get why anyone would use a pacer on the bike.

Not a pacer, he had his friend pulling him basically drafted off his friend for 3/4 of the course.

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Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right!

I actually figured out who it was but I'm not sure it's worth outing this guy who finished 20 something in hist AG. I'll let the OP decide if he wants to do that. Still... pretty lame especially since his results are totally unimpressive.

No. This is what allows this type of cheating to happen. This lack of action is enabling the cheater.

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2018 Races: IM Santa Rosa, Vineman Monte Rio, Lake Tahoe 70.3

BumbleBrian,

In the modern era with police and judges, we sometimes feel like taking responsibility for our community is someone else's job. In fact, it is ours no matter how uncomfortable it may be. I highly encourage you to bring it to the attention of the race directors either during or after the race. Was it Triathlete.com that had articles about a woman who deflated someone else's tires? The only way this got caught and dealt with is someone turning it in. In that case, it was the husband of the woman whose bike was being deflated, but regardless, the point is that race directors cannot stop all cheating and bullying that takes place before and during a race if we do not stand up and say something.

It isn't fun to stand up and say something. But, the consequences of not doing so are worse in that triathlons could become more and more like politics where anything goes. The very fact that you are bringing it up in this forum means that what you saw bothered you. Good. Now, do something about it and we all thank you for helping to keep our incredible sport what we all want it to be.

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2018 Races: IM Santa Rosa, Vineman Monte Rio, Lake Tahoe 70.3

"Not a pacer, he had his friend pulling him basically drafted off his friend for 3/4 of the course. "

In that case, it's not even a question. I'd report it. Since it's after the event, there's little chance that anything will, or even can, be done.

Are there any race photos for the bike leg of the tri? Seems like it would give a good chance of having a picture of the cheater drafting off a non-race participant for a long distance.

Nothing yet, too close to the race. They usually release the photos later in the week. I'll check them out because I got his number and send anything to the RD. I was able to identify the non racer who racer drafted off of as well. If any photos confirm what we saw I'll send them in as well.

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Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right!

I spotted an athlete drafting pretty blatantly on the bike, then they caught up to me on the run and cut the last few corners in the parking lot to the finish. Turns out it was the race director's future spouse.

I did not report it.

It's just you and clock, who cares what they do. Or did you really need that AG prize?

If these are USAT races, then this cheating potentially impacts all the folks nation wide for this AG in the rankings.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

People that cheat in one aspect of life, very rarely don't cheat in others = it won't last

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

IM Arizona 70.3 2016 - There are embankments by the bridges you pass (you go over and under the several bridges). A guy kept cutting the corners vs running all the way down and around [that makes sense in my head]. Anyway, if you do it enough it adds up not to mention you stay out of the heat for a bit. I watched him do it probably 3 times and then a volunteer saw it. She refused to give him water at the aid station until he went back up and ran down the hill (again, sorry that word picture isn't awesome). Point is, I didn't say anything but she did. Of the three of us involved, I don't know who was right.

Pink?