Yeah. What's the method of verification? Tracking down bib numbers and comparing photos? Way more effort than I'm going to put into it.

Yep, which told me nothing.

A simple cross referenced look at the results tells a lot.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Yep same gal

Dan,

I appreciate the approach you take in cases like this and would not have posted if I were not bordering right up on 100% certain it would eventually pass muster with you.

i think the thing to do is to have sportstats check and see whether she went up and DQd herself. if so, then i suspect it's the difficulty in getting to the appropriate area for that other than going thru the finish chute.

if she didn't, and she intended to pass herself off as a finisher, that's different.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

She didn't DQ herself in 2012. Results show a finish. I'm not going to post any more links or photos because I assume you don't want that after you edited the first post but it's there if you want to look it up.

This bothers me much more than someone DNFing in a manner that is not becoming. Need some more detail on this one.

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Ironman Certified Coach

Currently accepting limited number of new athletes

In a case like this how do you tell who is pacing who? I don't run a lot but I don't understand the value of a pacer. If you have a watch that is providing your pace how does a running pacer help? Extra motivation? There's little to no value in biking so why is it different for runners?

A little sleuthing shows me she raced Kona last year. And that she got a lottery slot from the Big Island.

Just in the Slowtwitch Facebook photos of the run course are at least two pictures of people being paced. Did not seem to be trying to hide it at all.

No pro field, perhaps people thought they could get away with more stuff. Was there an equatable number of course marshals compared to when there is a pro field?

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The secret of a long life is you try not to shorten it.
-Nobody

I was standing just past the run out on Boulder Creek Trail. I saw a lot of incidences of pacing but most were slower racers with family members jogging along for a few seconds.
In this case, the athlete was moving very well and heading west to the shorter out and back. A guy in the same team kit was with her with no bib or chip. When they came back by (3.5 miles later) they were still together as she went out for her 2nd lap. It was quite blantant, so much so that I looked her up. At that point she was in 4th place. I checked the tracker later and saw that she ran her way into 2nd.
As was pointed out, I dont have video proof, so I didn't bother reporting it to an official, but it was cheating and they know full well what they were doing.

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Gary Mc
Did I mention I did Kona

I did not see any course marshals on the run and I saw the lead 3 male and female racers pass me 3 times.

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Gary Mc
Did I mention I did Kona

Not saying this was the case at Boulder, but I DNF'd IM St. George. Missed the bike cutoff (that horrible, windy miserable year). There were a ton of us who missed it. They told us we could wait for a shuttle or just follow the course back 5 miles to the finish. As we rode back into town, I fully intended to bail off the course but there were barricades everywhere and it was impossible without climbing over them. We all ended up having to do the 'ride of shame' down the bike finish chute.

I just kept my head down. It was pretty awkward as the crowd was cheering like crazy. I wanted a sign to say 'thanks but I'm not actually finishing.'

looks like the athlete in question moved to Hawaii just to get into the locals lottery, went to Kona last year with a lottery entry.. doesn't make much sense to cheat this year..

http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/...4-big-island-winners

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"It is a good feeling for old men who have begun to fear failure, any sort of failure, to set a schedule for exercise and stick to it. If an aging man can run a distance of three miles, for instance, he knows that whatever his other failures may be, he is not completely wasted away." Romain Gary, SI interview

All of this seems like a solution looking for a problem.

I quickly tried to figure out who/which team, but I failed on the twitch hunt today. Whoever it was, I hope that Karma keeps track.

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Ironman Certified Coach

Currently accepting limited number of new athletes

Not everyone cheats so that they can get into Kona. Two of the most infamous cheaters on ST, Finnman and T-3, didn't do it for the glory of Kona. If this woman wanted to cheated herself to a Kona slot, she would have done so that she crossed the finish line faster than 11:42. That time won't get her a slot in the F45-49 AG. Perhaps this was her validation IM race to be able to race Kona. If that is the case then all she needed to do was to cross the finish line faster than 17:00.

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__________________________________________________________________________
My marathon PR is "under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something."

I was spectating very near the 13 mile point of the run. I saw one of the top females getting paced by her coach and he was basically whispering into her ear for about 20 seconds as I saw them run by. The guy next to me start yelling, "Don't get her DQ'd! Don't get her DQ'd!" and I yelled that once myself. He peeled off and started walking back to where he was watching and said to us, "It was only 10 meters!"

It was not a long way, but it was definitely more than 10 meters, and I do not think there is a minimum amount of pacing in the rules before it is a DQ. And she was only 20 yards from an aid station where there were all sorts of officials around.

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Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
Instagram • Facebook

there was rampant pacing on the bike course - the majority of it was family members trotting / walking/ riding along with a struggling racer which violating the letter of the law, but didn't offend me on the 'spirit'. The problem was with the narrow bike path, the wobbling bikers, meandering toddlers , and skateboarders (! WTF!? ) turned made an already crowded course into a hazardous situation.

The issue of AG / Overall leaders pacing is a big deal and should be assessed / reported.

More course marshals on the run would help solve both problems - but the fact that the Creek Path can't be closed means this will be an issue every time...

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" I take my gear out of my car and put my bike together. Tourists and locals are watching from sidewalk cafes. Non-racers. The emptiness of of their lives shocks me. "
(opening lines from Tim Krabbe's The Rider , 1978

great work sleuthing! I love when the the twitchunt police nab somebody. Based on prior performance (cough cough Louisville 2012 cough cough) its pretty clear she like to play it fast & loose. I'm sure she biked 7:15 just to save her legs for that blazing 3:04 marathon!

Nope...she used that lottery entry to finish Kona in 2014. Her results are on Athlinks. I'm just waiting for someone to ID her team.

Well, she took the slot. So far Karma has not caught up with her.

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Gary Mc
Did I mention I did Kona

I stopped in CDA this year because of the heat. Stopped after 70 miles, just turned left into T2 instead of heading back out on HWY95. It was just too hot and I knew the hills were going to kill me second time around. I took my chip off and handed it to the volunteer who took my bike. I have not gotten charged for a lost chip. Not proud to drop out....it wasn't fun, but it also wasn't hard to find someone to take the chip.

I would not have done this or accepted high fives. Collected my stuff and got out of town.