Cheating on the run

Stumbled upon this article from the LA Times about a well-respected doctor and runner in the LA area who is at the center of a cheating scandal in marathon running. When I first started running, nearly 40 years ago, the reflexive, wiseass response among non-runners was, “Oh, are you gonna Rosie Ruiz the race?” The fact that noted Boston Marathon cheater Rosie Ruiz (if you’ve never heard of her, look it up) had become a verb was rather unnerving. As a society, we are fascinated by scandal, controversy, conspiracy theories. If you are into all of that and more, check out this LA Times article, which also makes reference to those evil, vitriolic, hateful, loser-infested and “world famous” message boards on LetsRun.com. While the motivation to lie and cheat and steal in the “real world” is often strong, I really never understood it in the realm of marathon running, where the accomplishment is yours and yours alone. How, then, do you look into what David Goggins refers to as the “accountability mirror” and not cringe at what you see? Ah well …