Does sound a bit iffy, but unless you're going to approach the guy and actually ask him you're never going to know... just be paranoid about it, so as has been said - so long as he actually donates the money then it's nothing for anyone to really be bothered about - he's a loser if he's cheated. People should pay for cheating... but as has also been said - he can't at all feel the sense of achievement that "proper" marathon finishers have. That being said though, I find it hard to think HOW he would have cheated... stranger things have happened whilst at sea.

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Mr Octopus has taken over, and you will all bow down his awesome power of massage-magic. Bow little ones... Bow.

Well to measure the time he would've had to have crossed the start line... it seems stupid to me that he would've gone to the effort of leaving the course and rejoined further down the line. But then I guess who knows what goes through the mind of someone willing to cheat in any walk of life??

Karma will come around and bite him in the ass if he has cheated though

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www.richardsimkiss.co.uk

I believe there was quite a lot of cheating in the past. Back in 1995 it was several weeks before Alan Storey sent my winner's medal - for being 1st in the MV60 category - because he'd seen the picture of my somewhat bloated image crossing the finish line and didn't believe it was the same person that won in 1993. Rugby players can't do that time, he intimated. I was also led to believe the reason they'd stopped giving prize money to category winners was because of cheating in the past. At that time they didn't have chips, but had cameras at strategic intervals throughout the course, possibly at every mile marker. He wouldn't release my medal until he'd checked me through every one.
I'm not convinced Heckler's acquaintance cheated. If he'd run in the past and knew the ropes, so to speak, 8.45 pace is quite achievable. One of the reasons I started running was because I was overweight. OK, I'd lost a bit in the fifteen months before running my first marathon, but still managed 8.00 min/mile pace - in spite of 2,000ft of ascent and me being 55 years old at the time.
Cheers!

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Give me the hills!

I'm sad to say I've just got the last of the evidence I needed to show this person cheated.

I watched one of the dvds of the finish line which show him crossing the line with a clock time identical to his official time which shows you do not have to cross the start line to get an official time, you just a time from the start gun to when you cross the line.

I asked him a lot of questions about the start which he could not answer, I also "invented" a few facts about the start and first few miles. He happily joined in the conversation about these made up things and when I said I had just created them in my head he then told me I was wrong because they were all there.

I now feel I can put this to bed as I have exposed him as the cheat he is.

cheats never prosper

If you're that worried, contact the FLM and speak to them asking how their timing works, they will also be able to check up on if the guy has donated the dosh to the charity.

Al

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It's a funny little world ain't it?!

www.team-lewis.co.uk

If you want to know a bit more about me and what I do then visit my webiste!

They also video the race to catch people!