WASHINGTON — An anonymous tipster outed a 61-year-old man for cheating his way to the finish line of the prestigious annual Marine Corps Marathon for a number of years.
The revelation has led to a lifetime ban, which race officials say is a rare but serious rebuke. In fact, only a handful of such penalties have been exacted against runners in the history of the marathon.
Race director Rick Nealis told The Washington Post that Gregory Price, 61, was banned after he was found to have been sitting out a 50-minute stretch of the race, then popping up in the last six miles to finish second in his age group last month with a time of 3 hours, 17 minutes and 47 seconds.
“We don’t know where he was,” said Nealis. “He was sitting on a park bench or going in the Air and Space Museum. He’s doing something for 50 minutes, but I know it’s not running the race.”
The Post reached Price by telephone on Friday. He said he “messed up” and he apologized to all runners. He admitted that he had been a runner his entire adult life but in recent years his body struggled to make it 26.2 miles. “It’s just wrong,” he said. “I haven’t been feeling that well, didn’t do the training. Now, at the end of the day, what do I have? Nothing.”
The Post said that at every five kilometers and at 13.1 miles, race officials can clock runners’ times when they go over rubber timing mats placed on the course. A runner should have nine split times before they finish. Price was missing at least three times. Officials say there were similar “suspicious results” in his last five marathon results.
Read more about Price at The Washington Post.
