British Marathon “Cheat” Maintains His Innocence

Apparently, it was a case of mistaken identity.

He’s been branded Britain’s “Rosie Ruiz”, but according to a report on the BBC’s Web site, Rob Sloan says he’s no marathon cheat. At the Kielder Marathon in Northern England earlier this year, Sloan allegedly boarded a bus at the 20-mile point and passed the real third-place runner. He then supposedly got off the bus, hid behind a tree, and popped out near the finish line to take third.

“My argument is, ‘who in his right mind runs 24 miles of a 26-mile race, diversifies off the route, manages to find a bus, makes his way back in the race, lies in wait until the first and the second has passed then joins the race and finishes third’? Sloan asked. “In my opinion I should have joined the SAS if I could pull off something like that.”

At the 17-mile point in the race, a photographer captured Sloan in 10th place.

Steve Cairns, who was eventually awarded Sloan’s third-place medal, said he hadn’t been passed by anyone in the race after he was in third position.

For More: BBC