LONDON: A Scottish ultra-marathon runner who was disqualified from a race for using a car for part of the course says she made a “massive error” in accepting the third-place trophy.
Joasia Zakrzewski, 47, took part in the 50-mile (80-kilometer) GB Ultras Manchester to Liverpool event on April 7.It was later discovered she had traveled about 2.5 miles in a car — it is understood that mapping data showed she covered a mile in one minute and 40 seconds.The doctor, who now lives near Sydney, told the BBC she was in pain around the half-way mark.She accepted a lift in a friend’s car to the next checkpoint with the intention of telling marshals she was pulling out of the race.”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’,” Zakrzewski said.”I agreed to carry on in a non-competitive way.”When she crossed the line she was given a medal and trophy and posed for pictures.The runner, who had only arrived from Australia the night before, said: “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.”Zakrzewski said she regretted not telling officials at the end of the race that she was not running competitively but added: “It wasn’t malicious, it was miscommunication.”Wayne Drinkwater, GB Ultras race director, said he had received information that an athlete had gained an “unsporting, competitive advantage during a section of the event,” confirming a runner had been disqualified.Zakrzewski finished 14th in the 2014 Commonwealth Games marathon in Scotland and has set a number of records in ultra-marathon running.Third place has been awarded to another competitor.