Race organisers have denied claims from a ultra-marathon runner that she was allowed to continue a race in a ‘non-competitive way’ after telling marshals she had used a car for a portion of the route.
Joasia Zakrzewski, 47, from Dumfries, Scotland, finished third in the 2023 GB Ultras Manchester to Liverpool 50-mile race this month.
However she was later disqualified after it emerged she had travelled around 2.5 miles by car after other competitors raised concerns about anomalies in her Strava data.
Following the backlash, which has seen calls for a lifetime ban and her other titles to be probed including a previous world record the most miles run by a woman in 48 hours, Dr Zakrzewski has spoken out to defend her actions.
Speaking to BBC Scotland yesterday, Dr Zakrzewski denied accusations that she would ‘purposefully cheat’ and insisted it was down to a ‘miscommunication’ as she had agreed to carry on with the race ‘non-competitively’.
Examination of tracking data showed Dr Zakrzewski (pictured at the race) had covered around two and a half miles of the route by car – potentially gaining as much as 25 minutes.
Joasia Zakrzewski, 47, from Dumfries, Scotland, has said she is ‘devastated’ at the backlash, including calls for a lifetime ban
Examination of tracking data showed she had covered around two and a half miles of the route by car – potentially gaining as much as 25 minutes
She claimed that she decided to accept a lift from a friend to the next checkpoint after picking up a leg injury, in order to tell race marshals she was pulling out,
When she arrived at the checkpoint, Dr Zakrzewski claims she told event officials she had been in the car and was dropping out, however they convinced her to carry on in an ‘non-competitive way’, telling her: ‘You will hate yourself if you stop’.
Upon crossing the finishing line, she received a medal, trophy and posed for photographs, but said in hindsight this was a ‘massive error’ and that she should have handed the accolades back.
Having flown in from Australia the night before, Dr Zakrzewski, who now lives in Sydney, said she was ‘tired and jetlagged’ and was ‘not thinking clearly’.
But race director Wayne Drinkwater has disputed her claim, saying that none of the event team were aware that she had used a vehicle at any time during the race until being notified afterwards by another competitor.
In a statement to Sky News, 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.’
Just weeks earlier the top athlete smashed the world record for the most miles run by a woman in 48 hours, which has since been beaten by US runner Camille Herron.
Dr Zakrzewski has said she is ‘devastated’ at the backlash, including calls for a lifetime ban for the runner who represented Scotland at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Joasia Zakrzewski finished third in the race, receiving a medal and trophy for the feat. She has since said it was a ‘massive error’ and she should have handed the accolades back
Dr Zakrzewski pictured running at an ultra-trail event in Norway in 2016
Her disqualification came back after Mr Drinkwater received information that a competitor had gained an ‘unsporting, competitive advantage during a section of the event’.
He said: ‘The issue has been investigated and, having reviewed the data from our race tracking system, GPX data, statements provided from our event team, other competitors and from the participant herself, we can confirm that a runner has now been disqualified from the event having taken vehicle transport during part of the route.’
A report has been submitted to the Trail Running Association, which provides the licence for the event and is an associate member of UK Athletics, he added.
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Scottish Athletics also said it was ‘aware of the issue’.
Joasia Zakrzewski, 47, (left) was disqualified from the 50-mile Manchester to Liverppol ultra-marathon after accepting a lift from a friend for around 2.5 miles of the race
Dr Zakrzewski pictured running the women’s marathon at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014
Dr Zakrzewski, a top long-distance runner, had previously represented Scotland at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow
Around 400 runners braved a 6am start on Good Friday to pound the roads from Manchester to Liverpool for the annual 50-mile ultra marathon.
Crossing the finish line just 22 seconds behind the runner-up in the women’s category, in a time of seven hours and 25 minutes, Dr Zakrzewski was photographed proudly posing with her bronze medal.
But rumours quickly began swirling around her achievement and examination of on the fitness app Strava showed anomalies in her tracking data including having covered a mile of the race in just one minute 40 seconds.
It was later found that she had covered around two and a half miles of the route by car, potentially gaining as much as 25 minutes.
Race data uploaded to the sports app Strava by Dr Zakrzewski and shared on Twitter by Mel Sykes, the runner who was given her third-place medal, allegedly revealed she ‘hadn’t taken the race route’.
Dr Zakrzewski (pictured at the race) said she accepted the lift to the next checkpoint to tell race marshals she was dropping out of the competition
Dr Zakrzewski at the GB Ultras this month. Fellow competitors have also questioned whether her previous results and records would now be investigated
In addition, it showed she followed the main road rather than the race route for part of the event.
Following her disqualification, the medal for the third-placed woman was awarded to NHS podiatrist Mel Sykes, who slammed her rival as a ‘cheat’, saying it was ‘great news for me but really bad news for sportsmanship.’
Answering questions about how her rival was caught, Ms Sykes added: ‘Too many people noticed things were amiss and contacted the race organisers separately, so they had to launch an investigation.’
Ms Sykes said her actions ‘completely takes the p**s out of the race organisers, fellow competitors and fair sport’.
‘How can someone who knows they have cheated cross a finish line, collect a medal/trophy and have their photos taken?!’ she added.
The M2L ultra marathon, now in its seventh year, begins at Salford Quays and follows the Trans-Pennine Trail, Manchester Ship Canal and River Mersey, finishing at the Railway Club in Aintree.
The saga recalls the infamous case of a marathon runner who was stripped of third place after admitting taking a bus part way round.
Rob Sloan later claimed he’d became tired at the 20-mile mark of the 2011 Kielder Marathon in Northumberland, and hopped on the free spectators’ bus.
He later retracted his confession but was banned from running races.
