26 February 2009

Biggest Liar

A few weeks ago I spoke in a post about how wonderful I found the television show, Biggest Loser. While I am not extremely overweight, I still connected with these people and found them very inspiring.

I was particularly inspired last night when the latest person eliminated ran a marathon in 3:53, according to the caption on the screen. He was so proud of himself and he said he feels so good that he can run a marathon side by side with his wife.

The problem... he cheated.

The producers of the show picked the couple up and gave them a lift, apparently because the crew was on a tight schedule and the couple was running too slow. They crossed the finish line in 5:53 and accepted finisher's medals. According to reports around the internet they were driven for at least three miles.

A disgrace.

I saw the finish time posted on the screen and was duped into thinking that this man could do it. I was impressed that he was able to get such a great time, and it made me feel good, because sub 4 is my goal for my first marathon in November. (I am still impressed that he has achieved so much weight loss and fitness, but I have lost a little respect for him and a lot for the show.)

Various blogs have been covering this, some of whom even ran that same marathon. It is good to point out that the race director DQ'd him and his wife and they are not listed in the results.

I do not care what kind of deal I have with some show... if they wanted me to cheat at something I would have to say no.

10 comments:

Lindsay said...

i haven't been following bl this season but this is a crappy situation. i'm hoping the way it was portrayed on tv is partly (mostly) due to the editing... and that these folks are being honest about their 23 mile run. still a huge feat in itself of course, but they def shouldn't say they ran a marathon!

joyRuN said...

It's sad that he/they/whomever chose to devalue his accomplishments like that.

Some guy named John said...

This is something I learned of from another blog that I follow ... just a lousy situation all around.

Here's something that just dawned on me: If he ran everything but the last 5K, the TV crew probably took more time arguing with race officials afterwards than it would have taken to just let the poor guy finish his race!

Brian said...

I didnt even notice that, i saw the 553 and Im shocked they would try to lie. 553 is good if he ran the whole thing

Pat said...

The producers screwed up. I think he's probably under contract to do what they want. He probably wanted to race the bigger Rock N Roll marathon and they said no. Do the one we can manipulate easier.

He's still in the running for $100,000 on this game show, so I'm sure he has to toe the company line.

But, in the end the BL lied to us and now how do we believe the weigh ins?

Kim said...

Amen to that!
I found his wife's blog. She was talking about how wonderful it was to run a marathon and that they would have made it if the producer's didn't want to take shots at a water stop. The kicker...she said..."the ONLY took us 3 miles up the road" ONLY...3 miles up the road??? You've GOT to be kidding me!

Stacey said...

This is the first I have heard of this. Wow! Makes marathon running look like a joke. Tsk, tsk... shame on them!!!

Progman2000 said...

Wow, just noticed you are in for the Philly marathon (I will likely run it too if I don't get into the NCYM). Good going, good luck with the training, build up slow and steady!

Sonia said...

I don't watch the show but I heard about the controversy and I have to say I'm really disgusted by it and all the people now who think a 400lbs person can run a 3:53 marathon......... GRRR

Anonymous said...

The cheating didn't surprise me.

I've blogged myself about the Biggest Loser.

I think the show overemphasizes exercises and underemphasizes the role of diet in losing weight.

In particular, the last chance workouts drive me crazy, as do some of the spartan exercises they have overweight contestants do (such as riding Jilian, the fitness trainer) or their backs. A few weeks ago, one of the contestants suffered a stress fracture, most likely related to this nonsense.