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I have run - and finished - two marathons. I worked my butt off the better part of two years to be able to successfully do it - and both finishes are some of the proudest moments of my life.
What amazes and disgusts me the most about this article is that these people have the nerve to stand up tall, put a spin on cheating and infer that there must be something wrong with the rest of us.
Marmoreo writes that what she did was "perceived as cheating". Not quite - if you don't complete the entire 26.2 miles of a marathon - if you take a short cut - you cheated. This is not a "perception", this is reality.
Marmoreo writes that " and even though it's impossible to 'cheat' when your chip time tells the tale of missing the total distance, there are people in the running community who feel some of our runners and walkers did not earn the medals we so proudly wore that Sunday evening." This just doesn't make any sense! Of course it is possible to cheat with and without chip time - if you take the medal and wear it and didn't run/walk the entire 26.2 - you cheated and are warped if you wear it with pride!! I can only hope these people are not raising kids.
Mormoreo writes "I ask this with a heavy heart, believing that our best intentions of looking after each other, supporting our best efforts, and wanting success for every last one of us may have unfortunately, in some circles at least, compromised everything that we stand for." This make me want me to puke! If the running community demanding honesty and integrity out of all runners comprises everything they stand for - we don't want them - I don't care how much money they bring into a race.
I have nothing but kudos for Mr. Nealis for not condoning this type of behavior. We can only hope that all race managers/officials can learn from Mr. Nealis and follow suit.
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