Before I heard about this story, I thought things like this only happened in movies and sitcoms. Apparently, it happens in real life also.
British runner Rob Sloan was stripped of his third place medal after only running 20 of the 26.2 miles in the Salomon Kielder Marathon recently in Northumberland, England.
It was discovered that Sloan received an unfair advantage over other runners during the marathon. What was that unfair advantage? He took the bus. Similar to stories we’ve only seen on sitcoms like the Jeffersons and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Sloan made his own life a sitcom. Sloan, 31, is a former army mechanic, according to ABC News. He apparently rode the bus for five miles and hid in bushes close to the finish line before emerging from the shrubs to finish the race.
Sloan’s time was 2 hours and 51 minutes, 21 minutes better than his previous marathon record. Something tells me the footage from that race needs to be reviewed also. Suspicions arose when the runner who came in fourth, Steven Cairns, said he never saw Sloan pass him up, which Sloan said was “laughable.” After officials further investigated Cairns claims, Sloan ended up being the joke.
“It’s as bad as drug-taking in my book,” said Dave Roberts, one of the marathon’s organizers, according to the Associated Press.
Marathon director Steve Cram told BBC that Sloan ultimately admitted to cheating and apologized for his actions. Steven Cairn was given the third place medal after it was taken from Sloan. Somebody check the footage on Cairn, also.