Run, Sacramento

I was surprised to read the other day about just how many people (71 in 2008) were disqualified for failing to run all 26.2 miles in the New York City Marathon.

What in the name of Rosie Ruiz  is going on there in the Big Apple? Buncha cheaters! Running poseurs! Cut the course, hitch a ride on the subway, re-enter at Central Park? Weak.

Certainly, no one would do such a thing at the CIM. We're all above-board, upstanding running citizens who earn our times with blood, sweat and Cytomax.

But, just in case, I checked with CIM race director John Mansoor to find out if even one misguided soul has ever been caught cutting the course. It can't happen here, right John?

"It absolutely does happen," Mansoor says.

While my illusions were being squashed like a bug underneath my Nike trainers, Mansoor continued.

"By the way, we don't use the word cheating because that implies intent," Mansoor says. "What we have are athletes who don't complete the entire course and still cross the finish line. Every year at CIM, we have 20 to 25 of those that we disqualify."

All I can say is, shame on you, cheaters "athletes who don't complete the entire course but still cross the finish line."

Since the use of chip timing - sensors applied to the shoes that record time when runners pass over electronic mats at strategically placed points on the course - several years ago, cheating has become more difficult.

But not impossible.

In pre-chip days, Mansoor says, "We used to have to watch hours of tape and then try to identify somebody. Chip timing makes it easier. We read the (figures) on various parts of the course and see if anyone missed it. The next stage is, we have race photographers who take pictures of everyone in the race. Then we go through the photos to see if the people who missed the mats actually run. We also talk to the runners. We ask them, do you have any explanation why we're missing data on you? Generally, a good half readily admit they didn't run it. A quarter will never respond at all. A quarter will give us some explanation that we'll try to track down. It takes a week to go through it all."

Clearly sensing I was crestfallen, my faith in runners forever altered, Mansoor tried to reassure me that cheaters "athletes who don't complete the entire course and still cross the finish line" do not prosper, at least not in Sacramento.

"The typical thing we get is people who don't start at the start line and jump in along the way. A lot of these people are trying to get Boston times and they think, 'Oh, I'm way back here, no one's going to care.' Well, we care. Many of the races across the country aren't as diligent as we are. We feel the integrity of the race is important."

Just out of curiosity, I asked Mansoor what his advice would be if he were a nefarious runner and wanted to go over to the dark side and cut the CIM course.

"The only way to do it successfully, if you're going to try to get aay with it, is to know where all the chip-mat reads are, know where all the course photographers are. If you're missing in any of those places, then you've got a problem."