A
llison Tai thought she was in first place. It was
Aug. 9, 2015 , and she was on her way to finishing
the Ottawa Spartan Ultra Beast race in Lac-Sainte-Marie.
Since much of the running route was on trails, she
figured she would have noticed another woman passing
her. Towards the end of the run (which was about the
length of a marathon), she stopped to do a set of 30
burpees and a reporter on the sidelines informed her
that she was in second place. She finished the race and
accepted a plaque for second, watching as a different
woman – one she was sure she had passed – took first.
Almost immediately after the ceremony, perceptive
spectators and Facebook friends started investigatingWhy They Cheat
People have always tried to cut corners in order
to gain a competitive advantage. But with the
advent of chip timing, live splits and online results,
photographers and live video feeds along the course,
it’s revealed that a surprising number of recreational
runners cheat. Madeleine Cummings digs deeper,
trying to figure out what makes seemingly normal
runners do bad things.By Madeleine Cummings52 Canadian Running November & December 2016, Volume 9, Issue 7Guy Parsons