Categorized | Marathon, Running

Follow us on Twitter @runitfast

Follow us on Instagram @runitfast

The Unspoken Rules of Being a Badass: A Runner's Guide

Scott Downard Stripped of Cowtown Marathon Win for Running Under Friend’s Bib

You win some and you lose some….sometimes during the same race.  

Oklahoma native Scott Downard won the 2012 Cowtown Marathon on Sunday in Fort Worth, Texas in 2:31:40.

However, minutes later he was stripped of his win after race officials discovered that Downard had never registered for the race. He had a bib though, but the bib belonged to a friend who was unable to compete in the marathon.

Downard admitted it freely and didn’t cause a stir.  The runner-up, Kolin Styles, was declared the winner. Styles finished the race in 2:37:53.

This is a practice that isn’t rare. It happens often, but the difference is that it is almost never if ever the race winner doing it. Usually the top dog is comped or signed up weeks in advance of the race.

The reason it is happening more and more is because of the rapid rate that a lot of marathons are selling out months in advance. So runners are signing up months in advance for races that they might never run. Injury, work, illness, family, conflicts can get in the way when trying to plan or train so far in advance.

Then on the flipside you have runners who really want to run these races who got shut out.  So bibs are usually transferred often at a fraction of the cost the original runner paid or given to a friend or buddy.

To me it’s no harm no foul…unless you win!

Unless of course you are helping a friend cheat their way into a BQ or age bracket win. It does get complicated on a certain level but for the most part runners just want to run.

Downard didn’t cheat the race or course. He won fair and square. He just didn’t sign up for the race. The race officials made the right decision.

Some races (fewer and fewer) will let you transfer a bib/registation to another runner before a certain date or for a small feel.

Congrats to both Scott and Kolin on winning the Cowtown Marathon.

[image: Paul Moseley/Fort Worth Star-Telegram]

Comments

comments

Run It Fast - The Club (JOIN TODAY)

This post was written by:

- who has written 1138 posts on Run It Fast®.

Joshua Holmes has completed 325 marathons/ultramarathons while running 100+ miles 62 including races such as the Badwater 135 (9x), Western States 100, The Last Annual Vol State 500K (4x). He is the founder of Run It Fast, the most driven club on the planet. His favorite races to date are the Vol State 500K, Badwater 135, Barkley Fall Classic, Catalina Eco Marathon, Chimera 100, Across The Years, Savage Gulf Trail Marathon, Strolling Jim 40 Miler, Tunnel Hill 100, RUTS, EC100 and the Flying Monkey Marathon in his home state of Tennessee. Follow @bayou Follow @joshuaholmes on Instagram

Contact the author

3 Responses to “Scott Downard Stripped of Cowtown Marathon Win for Running Under Friend’s Bib”

  1. Lisa says:

    Poor Kolin. That would suck to win a race but not get to celebrate as you cross the line. Or did he know then? You have to wonder what Scott was thinking. Sheesh.

    But I do think races should have a system for letting you transfer your bib. With technology these days, it can’t be that hard.

  2. Bryan W. says:

    Of course he had to be from Oklahoma……dang!

Trackbacks/Pingbacks


Leave a Reply to Lisa


Run It Fast on Twitter

twitter button free

Archives