Marathon runners often talk about hitting the wall around the 20-mile mark, as the body begins to strain under the effort of the race. But one runner in the Kielder marathon in the north of England this weekend didn’t hit the wall, he hopped on a bus instead.
Rob Sloan finished third but the other runners became suspicious as they couldn’t remember him passing them and the time he clocked in the second half of the race was faster than the first, a rather unusual trick.
Then witnesses began to report to officials that Sloan waited behind a tree and then emerged behind the first two runners close the finish of the race that is held over a largely woodland course.
Sloan initially denied he cheated, saying to questioners: “I’m upset and angry that someone wants to cast these aspersions. It’s laughable, is what it is,” he insisted.
However, the cheeky runner eventually admitted his crimes and was disqualified and he could now be banned from ever entering a marathon again by his athletic club.
