Comrades cheating claim probed

2003-06-18 12:49

Zoubair Ayoob

Pietermaritzburg - The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) will investigate claims that a woman cheated by joining the race at Camperdown, a spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Cheryl Winn said it is unlikely the story is true, but the CMA will investigate. Winn was speaking after a woman called East Coast Radio on Tuesday claiming she awoke late on the morning of the race and rode to Camperdown, where she joined other runners.

"All the runners have a chip in their shoe that tracks their progress during the race. They have to pass all the tracking points before they are deemed to have completed the race. Technology can fail but we think the story is a hoax. We will look into it," she said.

Winn said results from dope tests would only be available in about two weeks. This is because the samples were sent abroad for analysis. Prizewinners do not get their money until they have been given a clean bill by the dope testers.

Meanwhile, the CMA medical team, headed by Dr Jeremy Boulter, treated 360 runners for minor ailments like strained muscles and exhaustion, while 36 were treated in hospital after being picked up on the route. Nine were admitted and kept overnight. Boulter said most were discharged on Tuesday and the rest will leave on Wednesday.

Some were admitted to hospital because they had abnormal ECG readings that indicated a possible heart attack. Blood tests, however, showed there was no such risk.

Boulter said one runner was over-hydrated, one ran with pneumonia and one was admitted in a confused state after taking the banned stimulant ephedrine and being picked up at Cowies Hill. All were treated and released. He said it appears most runners took good advantage of the extended cut-off time and set easy paces.

In the aftermath of the race, about 10 000 bags and 2 000 bins of litter were removed from along the route. Tony Morrison, who was in charge of the 51 refreshment stations, said those who staffed the stations were responsible for cleaning up.

"It was a lot of hard work. The gun goes off at 17:30 and people think it's all over. People worked until about 22:00 cleaning up, and I sent a vehicle over the route again (Tuesday) morning to tidy up," he said.

- The Witness