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6 Feb
7:15pm, 6 Feb 2024
43,584 posts
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SPR
Just read that and in the comments her Berlin 2016 time is being questioned. Apparently some missing splits there as well.
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6 Feb
7:21pm, 6 Feb 2024
43,585 posts
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SPR
All splits missing from Berlin rather than missing splits so seems like it could be a genuine chip failure.
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6 Feb
8:10pm, 6 Feb 2024
2,219 posts
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auburnette
Hadn't realised this discussion was here, was posting on the other cheating thread.
She used that 3:09:00 at Berlin to qualify for a champs start at London the following year which seems deeply dubious, someone on LetsRun has found an old Guardian column where she says "watch broke at 33k, I know the time was under 3:10 because that's what the clock said at the finish." But as we all know the real race clock which starts when Bekele, Kipchoge, Kiptum and co set off has little meaning for anyone outside the elite, unless you are at the very front of Corral A and setting off immediately after them you're going to have at least +5 mins on whatever the race clock in majors says.
Seems deeply dubious to claim a champs start based on a broken watch and the race clock. Also, how unfortunate can one person be to have all these watch issues?
I hope her older times are legit and surely at least some of them must be but it seems like a possible tip of the iceberg? She ran 3:35 earlier that year. There is a big old difference between 3:35 and 3:09...
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6 Feb
8:30pm, 6 Feb 2024
2,220 posts
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auburnette
Actually, she says she stopped her watch at 33k and uploaded a partial GPS file to strava for that Berlin time. So it could have been a legitimate qualifying time for the following years London but there's only her words, partial GPS file and the supposed race clock which sounds less rather than more convincing. 🤔
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6 Feb
8:44pm, 6 Feb 2024
67,683 posts
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Velociraptor
I could pull some race results up that show even more inconsistency than a 3:09 marathon after a 3:35 marathon (4:12 to 3:37 in three months is probably my best example). And I am sure there are other runners who genuinely have a lot of bad luck with their Garmins during races. But I think most honest runners with a dubious GPS trace would produce a plausible explanation either proactively or if questioned.
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7 Feb
6:16am, 7 Feb 2024
3,241 posts
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Big_G
I haven’t read the letsrun thread, but did London actually let her into the race based on her word and no official race result then? Or did she already have a qualifying time from a different race?
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7 Feb
7:10am, 7 Feb 2024
2,221 posts
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auburnette
She said that Berlin gave her a time based on whatever evidence she submitted (which couldn't have included a full GPX file, as she didn't have one), so she does show up in the results but with no splits. She didn't have another qualifying marathon time for London champs start, not sure if she had a half marathon qualifier.
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7 Feb
7:22am, 7 Feb 2024
3,242 posts
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Big_G
That is odd, but I don’t know what Berlin’s process is. Or was it a different process because of her job, I wonder? It was a good few years ago now, but I have a clubmate who legitimately ran in his one and only sub 3 at London, but he had a faulty chip. He said he had numerous emails back and forth, with files, photos etc, but they wouldn’t give him his time. But I don’t know what the process is now, or if they have a mechanism to adjust results in the case of faulty chips.
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7 Feb
7:35am, 7 Feb 2024
2,222 posts
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auburnette
Who knows - as of last year Berlin was still using ChampionChip and they do occasionally fail, I can see that sometimes people might have to be manually added to the results. Usually though this would be done with the benefit of a full GPX file showing the run and also photos like your clubmate submitted from various points along the course demonstrating that the GPX file is accurate. I'm surprised they added her with less than that (maybe she did have photos from near the finish which could be time stamped).
Gutting for your clubmate 
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7 Feb
7:45am, 7 Feb 2024
3,243 posts
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Big_G
Trying not to go down a rabbit hole with this. But she wrote a guardian blog about the race where she says she didn’t have an official time at Berlin. But I checked the Berlin results, and her net and finish time are exactly the same, which would imply she either started right on the front row with the elites (seems unlikely), or indeed Berlin adjusted her time, which is what she is saying happened. It is odd.
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