British ultra-marathon runner banned for 12 months - after using car during race

16 November 2023 , 08:44

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Joasia Zakrzewski has a previous track record of breaking records and winning races (Image: FACEBOOK)

A Scottish ultra-marathon runner has been banned from competing for 12 months after she used a car during a 50-mile race.

Zakrzewski accepted a medal and trophy for finishing third in the GB Ultras Manchester to Liverpool 50-mile race in April before she was caught using the vehicle. Tracking data showed she was not running for 2.5 miles of the event and then the 47-year-old, who represented Scotland in the 2014 Commonwealth Games, was stripped of her medal. She will now not be eligible to compete in any licensed races and will not be able to represent Great Britain.

Zakrzewski claimed she told race officials about having been in a vehicle for a portion of the run in April and finishing the race "in a non-competitive way". But a verdict at the Independent Disciplinary Panel of UK Athletics said she should have not collected her medal if she had completed the race on a non-competitive basis.

Joasia Zakrzewski has been hit with a 12-month ban for accepting a trophy despite getting in a car mid-race (Dumfries And Galloway Standard)

A friend of the runner told the BBC that she was unwell and arrived in the UK from Australia just hours before the April race. Adrian Stott said: "The race didn't go to plan. She said she was feeling sick and tired in the race and wanted to drop out. She has cooperated fully with the race organisers' investigations, giving them a full account of what happened." Third place in the Manchester to Liverpool event has since been awarded to ultra-runner Mel Sykes.

The verdict said: "The claimant had collected the trophy at the end of the race, something which she should have not done if she was completing the race on a non-competitive basis. She also did not seek to return the trophy in the week following the race. Even if she was suffering from brain fog on the day of the race, she had a week following the race to realise her actions and return the trophy, which she did not do. Finally, she posted about the race on social media, and this did not disclose that she had completed the race on a non-competitive basis."

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Her history of racing is highly successful and it is still unknown why she decided to cheat in this race. In February, at the Taipei Ultramarathon in Taiwan, she won the 48-hour race outright - setting what was at the time a world record distance of 255 miles. Racing for Great Britain in the IAU World 100km Championships, she won individual silver in 2011 and bronze in 2014 and 2015. She also represented Team Scotland in the marathon at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. In 2020, aged 44, she won a 24-hour event in Australia with a distance of 236.561km.

Rachel Hagan