Race organisers hit back at marathon runner's claim they knew she used a car

20 April 2023 , 11:47

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Joasia Zakrzewski used a car during an ultra-marathon

Race organisers have denied ultra-matharon runner Joasia Zakrzewski's claim they knew she had been given a lift in a car for two-and-a-half miles of the journey.

Zakrzewski finished third in the GB Ultras Manchester to Liverpool 50-mile race earlier this month, but was later disqualified and stripped of her bronze medal after it emerged she had broken the rules by travelling two-and-a-half miles by car. In response, Zakrzewski claimed she did not "purposefully cheat", blaming a "miscommunication" with race marshals.

Speaking to BBC Scotland, she explained she was "tired and jetlagged" after arriving in the UK from Australia the night before and found herself struggling with a leg injury midway through the race. Zakrzewski claimed a friend gave her a lift to the next checkpoint so she could inform marshals that she was withdrawing from the race, but they urged her to keep going.

"When I got to the checkpoint I told them I was pulling out and that I had been in the car, and they said 'you will hate yourself if you stop'," she said. "I agreed to carry on in a non-competitive way. I made sure I didn't overtake the runner in front when I saw her as I didn't want to interfere with her race."

She continued: "I made a massive error accepting the trophy and should have handed it back. I was tired and jetlagged and felt sick. I hold my hands up, I should have handed them back and not had pictures done but I was feeling unwell and spaced out and not thinking clearly."

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However, race director Wayne Drinkwater has hit back at Zakrzewski, insisting she never told officials she had received a lift and that they would have immediately disqualified her had they known.

Event organisers have denied Zakrzewski's claim they knew she had been given a lift for a part of the race

In a statement, he said: "To re-affirm, none of our event team in question, with written statements to confirm this, were aware that Joasia had vehicle transport at any time during the race until we received information after the race from another competitor. If we had been made aware during the race, disqualification from the race would have been immediate at that point."

He added: "After the event, there was no attempt by Joasia to make us aware of what had happened and to give us an opportunity to correct the results or return the third place trophy during the course of the subsequent seven days.

"At the finish location, Joasia crossed the finish line timing mat, received her finisher medal and was presented with her trophy. At no point at the finish were the event team informed by Joasia that she was 'not running the race competitively'."

Matthew Cooper