On the one hand I feel sorry for her. She has obviously completed some amazing runs, and broke records without the need to cheat. A bit like Lance Armstrong, the discredited tour-de-France rider who could probably have still won the tour without the help of drugs.
To get anywhere near performing to her standards must have taken years of dedicated training and passion.
But on the other hand, she has put doubt in everyone’s mind, did she, or didn’t she? and wasted all her good work. It’s also disrespectful of other runners who have trained equally hard, and been denied their record attempts and race positions due to unfair competition.
I would like to hear her side of the story before making judgement though.
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I don’t think there’s an her side of the story to tell, really? She was knackered, she cheated? No way she could possibly have thought that was OK?
It is a shame when a young person ruins their career but that’s the consequence of being stupid and dishonest?
Sport has to be based on fair play, otherwise what’s the point?
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This looks like her side of the story. She forgot to tell the judges she wasn’t competing because she was so tired she forgot to say this was all for funsies. She mistakenly took the trophy and posed for pictures.
I’m feeling less sympathy now. The story is not plausible.
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There’s now more in the article:
As in post above plus:
When she crossed the line she was given a medal and a third place wooden trophy and posed for pictures.
The runner, who had arrived from Australia the night before, said: “I made a massive error accepting the trophy and should have handed it back. I was tired and jetlagged and felt sick. I hold my hands up, I should have handed them back and not had pictures done but I was feeling unwell and spaced out and not thinking clearly.”
Nevertheless, she should have “thought clearly” sooner … the race was nearly a fortnight ago … 
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That says it all. It doesn’t take weeks to get over jet lag.
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I’m sorry, I’m laughing again 
That’s got to be the most feeble excuse since “the dog ate my homework”
So she wants us to believe that knackered and jet lagged she got in the car for a bit. A car that just happened to keep driving in the direction of the winning line?
Then they convinced her that she’d hate herself if she didn’t finish the race, so she did, intending to explain at the end and not be part of the competition?
And then when she gets to the end , she’s so tired and confused she “forgets” about the explaining and dropping out part and accepts the trophy, photos and accolades?
And after, when she isn’t so knackered, she didn’t think the right thing to do would be to put the record straight?
At least not until she got caught bang to rights
Feeble, just accept you’ve been caught and take your licks
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Never mind you can still book an appointment with her at The Entrance (lucky girl):
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I prefer a HotDog to a HotDoc.
Well, she’s not going to be short of a couple of bob even if she does get banned, then?
Let’s hope she doesn’t take shortcuts and cheat on her patient’s treatment ……
What! are you mad? A HotDoc is for life.
I don’t know the woman personally but during my years as an ultra runner I met quite a few, both male and female top class record breaking runners. Some were very approachable and down to earth, and others were elitist and deverish, you could say, even arrogant.
They expect everyone to know who they are, and get out of the way if you see them coming.
Because of their fame they think they can do what they like during a competition. I’m not saying any of them cheat, but during a forty mile race I was taking part in there was this runner. He had won this particular race for the last ten years, and he also was a member of the committee that organised the event. Anyway, on this particular year he gave in his tally with ten miles left to go and walked to the finish. He insisted that he should still be mentioned in the results and receive his medal so as to keep his unbroken record intact.
He had handed in his tally, and as such they assumed he had retired from the event and the remaining checkpoints packed up and left. He was refused his medal and he was classed as a DNF (did not finish) on the result sheet. He took umbridge and threw his toys out of the pram. That was the last time I ran in that race because after ten years I was getting too old and there was nobody to organise future races after the committee had a great bust up over the outcome.
Joasia is 47 and has done some remarkable things, but strikes me as having the same attitude as the previous example. She probably believed (wrongly) that she was runner royalty and could bend the rules to suit her. After all, they were privileged to have such a celebrity running in their event.
However…There is a saying amongst most runners…“You are only as good as your last run”
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Good sportsmanship is just as important as being good at sport. 
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Absolutely Mr Smith…
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What would be more important to you?Winning a race or doing a better time?
Surviving a race would be good enough for me 
I could manage jogging to the starting line.
That’s when the repressive brain kicks in.
It all depends on the race Mr Smith…
Time doesn’t mean much on a fifty mile Fell run, so to win would have been great. I’ve only ever won one fell running event, the ‘Limestone Limp’ a 38 mile course around the dales. It chucked it down with rain all the way.
I almost won the ‘Flamborough Fling’ 26 miles starting in Bridlington on the East coast. I was feeling good and by ten miles I had broken away from the pack. There was two of us, and he said he had done this race before, so I let him navigate. Together we managed a cracking pace, but I always thought that I could leave him as we approached the end. You just get a feeling about someone running beside you.
With just two miles to go he directed us across a field to meet the coast path back to the finish in Flamborough. With barbed wire fencing to climb I knew he had made a mistake, so I left him and returned back to the correct path while he floundered about in the field. By the time I reached the coast path the marshals said that two others had since gone through so I ended up third…
On a road marathon there will be some world class runners, or even good club runners, and winning would be out of the question, so running a fast time is more important. Road running is constant, where as fell running allows for a walk while you push a jam sandwich and drink down. Running for over six hours requires some food and drink to keep the energy levels up.
On a road marathon drinks are the only thing you need and these can be taken without stopping.
Of my 36 road marathons, 35 were completed in under 3.5 hours, with a best time of 3 hours dead. A bit like me afterwards.
I mention the ‘Jam Sandwich’ specifically because there is quite a story behind it…
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Well…???
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To avoid going off topic and getting my legs smacked Mr Smith, I will take the tale of the jam sandwich elsewhere…Be sure to watch out for it…
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