Okay I have no patience or self-discipline whatsoever. I could not concentrate on work while sitting on this so without further ado…
…meet Ponytail Girl (Maybe. See Update-2 below)
If you use your web browser view/zoom tool you’ll see that the long ponytail appearing to belong to Red Bandana Guy isn’t long at all but that the tip is actually the rolled point of a charcoal-grey or black hoodie. The exact same colour of the hoodie worn by this young lady who also happens to be sporting a bushy ponytail of the exact same colouring of the ponytail next to Red Bandana Guy in the original photoshopped version of Running-With-Scissors-Sarah sprinting past the pack of 5k runners and about to overtake Red bandana Guy and his missing sidekick Ponytail Girl.
Whoa – did you guys hear that? A subtle pounding sound. Like a nail being driven into wood. A fencepost maybe. Or perhaps a coffin.
Summary tomorrow.
Update:
In my rush to post I failed to mention my reasoning for identifying this particular runner (#432) as our Ponytail Girl. First and foremost the hair texture, colour and thickness absolutely match the hair originally thought to belong to Red Bandana Guy. Second because on Ponytail Girl’s right shoulder is the outline of what looks to be a flat hoodie collar and in the first photo when you pump it up a couple of generations you can absolutely see two rolls indicative of the kind of rolls a cloth hood makes when it’s open and flattened on a person’s back.
The length of the ponytail didn’t (and still doesn’t) dissuade me because anyone who has long hair – especially bouffant, thick, bushy hair knows that when you run it bobs from side to side and up and down almost in a single motion. This girl is running. It is entirely probable her ponytail is bobbing up and behind her in the full face photo, giving the illusion of being shorter than it really is. It is also entirely possible that at some point she’s reached up and pulled her ponytail through the tie a second time to get it off her neck.
We’ve made similar, logical concessions for Sarah regarding her clothing and headband.
It is the colour of her hoodie coupled with the colour and boofidity (I can make up words too) that strikes me as both ponytails belonging to the same person.
Then again – I can be wrong.
What I’m not wrong about is the fact that someone was running right beside Red Bandana Guy and yet there’s not one pixel of evidence on that big open space beneath his tall torso and long legs showing even a hint of the existance of this second runner.
Re the discussion of the timing between these two photos:
All the photos I saw on the SLRC website show the pack of 5k runners/walkers beginning in the shade. Very little sunlight is coming through the trees when they start out. The questionable photo of Sarah bounding like a gazelle with a lion on her ass around the pack is also in this lesser light. The photo shows her at best one to two Baryshnikov-esque leaps from overtaking Red Bandana Guy and Ponytail Girl. AND this has to be the earlier shot because most of the 5k walkers are still standing still in a pack.
So – if #432 is our phantom now-you-see-her-now-you-don’t runner on the other side of Red Bandana Guy – why does Sarah appear – later down the track – a good 3 meters or more behind her?
Good question.
Update2:
Have read and reread all your comments regarding Ponytail Girl and am willing to concede I may not have tagged the right runner. Really looking at her face and the faces of the those beside her brings up yet another question however…
I am not comfortable posting this photo because they are mostly children. Use this link previously posted by VeryPolitik to access the SLRC photo page without having to log into dot photo. Make sure you are in the 2011 Jump In & Run photo album and look for image # 2478.
Sarah is still with the 5k walkers, behind the pack of 5k runners – which appear to have all children in the lead just as the end of the meridian dividing the 5k runners from the half marathon runners comes into view…
How does a runner take 2nd place in a half marathon from the back of a pack of 5k runners?
I’m totally open to a logical explanation. I also welcome any and all help in locating the owner of (what we can now refer to as simply) Boofy Hair.
Oz Mudflats 
September 13, 2011 at 5:40 pm
Ozmud
I really admire your persistence and appreciate all the work you put into this. The thing that’s puzzling me is why did Professor Scharlott say that the photo is legit in the first place? He did say that, didn’t he (on another blog)?
September 13, 2011 at 5:49 pm
Wow. I have such a headache from this. How on earth are you able to keep going? But thank god you are as someone needs to show the world how low this woman will go.
Thank you for your persistence.
September 13, 2011 at 6:04 pm
You are such a great detective, keep on keeping on and thanks for your hard work.
September 13, 2011 at 6:25 pm
@Ginger – we all have different programs on our home/office computers and differing brands and program qualities will – like everything else – give slightly differing results. Graphic programs are not like pregnancy tests which result in absolutes. Without an actual, professional forensic graphic program coded specifically to interpret specific anomalies in pixel placement, most of how we can judge whether a photo has been tweaked or not depends upon the viewer. In this case – us.
I’ve truly done my level best to not distort the images I’ve enhanced or lightened but distortion can happen anyway. I believe Prof. Scharlott was offering his best advice based upon his program, his knowledge and whatever third-party input he may have received from a trusted colleague. And I value his opinion.
On the other hand, I went at this trusting no one expert in particular but putting all my questions up for public scrutiny. Collectively I think we’ve made a compelling case against Sarah Palin having actually run the full half marathon at SLRC. Whether it impacts on her credibility as a political bruin or not, we’ll need to wait and see.
I do think the absence of this photo appearing on any of the official Sarah Palin websites like SarahPAC and C4P provides in and of itself, compelling testament to the probability that the more educated of her followers don’t believe this photo is genuine either.
Time will tell.
@dlbvet – thanks so much. Truth be told I gathered all my moxie, energy and persistence from each of you 🙂
September 13, 2011 at 6:34 pm
Ozmud, thanks for the detailed reply.
September 13, 2011 at 8:13 pm
OZMud, have you seen this? http://www.stormlakepilottribune.com/story/1760728.html article from the Storm Lake Tribune:
Brenda McVinua was among the Storm Lakers Palin chatted with after the race. McVinua was working as a volunteer in the “chute” near the finish line, and was impressed with the former vice-presidential candidate’s form.
“She wasn’t even breathing hard. You could tell she’s an athlete. If you didn’t know better you would have thought she’d just run around the block once or twice.” She reportedly said, “Boy, that was fun,” as she crossed the line.
I think this tells us all we need to know about whether she ran the race or not. Arrives at the finish line 13.1 miles later fresh as a daisy.
September 13, 2011 at 9:12 pm
I suggest anyone on Twitter or facebook send this link around to the media. The Young Turks, Keith Olbermann, Maddow, everyone. My eyes tell me that this is absolute proof of photoshopping and therefore that drags her entire win into dispute. To my eyes, the ponytail girl was far too close to the red bandanna man to be covered completely. The feet should be just to the left of his, and we should see at least some of her black clothes, and her legs, or arms. That we see NOTHING is the smoking gun. For whatever reason, who knows, the photoshopper shopped her out but didn’t realise her hair and nose remained. Maybe in fact each runner was added singley from other photos and they were never in this proximity except for one shot where boofy hair girl and red bandanna man were right next to each other. Whoever was composing the ridiculous photo wanted to add only the man and cut around him and mistakenly included her hair and nose as his hair and his adams apple. Oops!!
Guarantee that’s what happened. The photos that the runners were snipped out from was Todds own photos or a staffers, NOT the official race ones, as that would be TOO obvious.
Probably the photo started off as a group of walkers actually on that part of the road. From there they added runners one by one, then finally added Sarah dead centre. Maybe a disgruntled (aren’t they all?) staffer sent it out in a passive agressive move. Maybe Todd? Whatever the case, the photo just doesn’t LOOK right. There’s a possibility Sarah signed off on it, her self delusion does go far! She probably thought it looked great and god would protect her in any case…after all she thinks – I pulled off a hoax pregnancy and got away with it!!
September 13, 2011 at 9:53 pm
In your title, “past” should be “passed.” Do you know from whom the original photo-shopped picture came?
September 13, 2011 at 10:35 pm
And “here” should be “hear”.
I’ve been enjoying your articles! Keep up the great detective work.
September 13, 2011 at 10:36 pm
@WakeUpAmerica -oops thanks for the catch! I am soooo tired! rofl My boss called me tonight (you know – the nice lady who puts money in my bank and whom I adore beyond all life itself?) and I had to do a dozen mea culpas for having fallen behind but she was gracious – peeked in here and patted us all on the back.
@Tan et al who have suggested sending links – I’ve a summary to post tomorrow and then I think we might have something credible to send out…
@wink – yes I’ve seen her article, thanks. I’ve avoided reading too much though so as not to influence the voices in my head that seem to be staying on track and focused. They’re not the most disciplined lot and can be easily distracted with shiny objects. (for God’s sake don’t ring any bells until I get this finished!)
September 13, 2011 at 10:40 pm
@wiscogal – hahaha! omigod am I tired! all fixed thanks!
September 13, 2011 at 10:41 pm
If you take the original picture and adjust the colors one at a time (100% red, revert, 100% blue, etc), you’ll see that there’s a distinct line for the back of the head of the red bandana guy. Also, the rest of his hair is not curly. It’s quite short and smooth.
September 13, 2011 at 11:32 pm
Hat tip to all the Sherlock Holmes here, especially OZ.
The red bandana man minus the hippie ponytail looks much more the professional with a groomed hair style.
Wouldn’t it be fitting if something, seemingly trivial showed up this dangerous woman and the people at Faux, who may well have aided and abetted.
Someone did something. And we all saw something very wrong with this photo.
Take that Sarah Palin, consistant fraud as you are.
A salute of my own rapier to Oz.
September 13, 2011 at 11:41 pm
So the pic on the right was no doubt taken before the pic on the left. And thats what the original released pic shows, Sarah is passing slower people to keep herself moving. I dont see how this post means anything. It’s a ilittle vague. You don’t even mention timing.
September 13, 2011 at 11:45 pm
So do we know if # 432 ran the 5 k or the half marathon, and what her time was? The pink-shirted girl with glasses might also be spotted in another photo that showed her number.
I’m actually not sure that is the same ponytail. The one behind Red Bandana Guy looks longer and lower.
September 13, 2011 at 11:46 pm
Onemore thing. The pic on the right was taken at the start, whereas the pic on the left looks like it was taken at some pint after the start, as that divider between two groups of runners isn’t there. Look at the start pics. There’s a median in the middle of everyone. We can safely assume the left pic was taken second. It would make sense that the pics were taken close in timing, therefore it’s plausible that Sarah is closer to that lady and man, as she is on the side passing them.
THis is just what I see at first glance.
September 13, 2011 at 11:58 pm
well – that picture clearly points out that SP’s body double really did run the race.
September 14, 2011 at 12:00 am
Okay. I take it back. All of it. I really didn’t think it was photoshopped this much. I’ll now go make a breakfast of my shorts. Since I told someone I’d eat them if this turned out to be really photoshopped and not just enhanced with color.
Oz, you’ve done an amazing job. Thank you for your hard work on this.
Does hot sauce go well with grey biker shorts…Or maybe soy sauce?
Ketchup, perhaps…?
September 14, 2011 at 12:09 am
Perhaps someone at Wonkette might find this all interesting.
So Palin is at far at the back of Ponytail girl number 432. I wonder what time Ponygirl made.
September 14, 2011 at 12:15 am
The race organizers should be able to provide 432’s overall time! It may be revealing, then maybe not.
Some computerized chip timed races list the bib numbers in the results.
In theory the picture of Sarah behind 432 could have been taken before Sarah passed everyone on the sidewalk, but the pictures are usually in chronological order, as they were taken.
September 14, 2011 at 12:23 am
I don’t see 432 wearing a hoodie, just a sleeveless shirt. And her ponytail starts higher than the one eclipsed by Red Bandana, and doesn’t hang below her ears. The eclipsed one will be a lot hotter, with that thick wodge of hair resting on her back and neck.
September 14, 2011 at 12:32 am
Sarah Palin will run as an independent. She can’t really debate, so she avoids that hurdle. She is doing the same thing in this race. Avoiding the hard stuff, and cutting in to the end.
The Running club should check this out on their own.
September 14, 2011 at 12:33 am
Damn, I miss my heart.
September 14, 2011 at 12:40 am
The photo we’re looking at is low-res, but I just looked on-line and found a version that is 800×600 pixels: better than the version I had been looking at. The back of red-bandana guy’s head can be seen clearly, including the short hair below the bandana and the slight separation between his head and the ponytail. I agree, the missing body/legs are a darned good smoking gun. As for the photoshopping, my theory of the crime is as follows:
back half (walkers) joined to front half;
Palin photoshopped in;
red-bandana guy + ponytail photoshopped in.
I.e., photoshopping in red-bandana dude, but doing a sloppy job, would account for the most conspicuous anomalies in the front part of the photograph. It is interesting to consider WHY this would have been done, since the race photos show that Palin did start with the 5K field. So why didn’t Todd just take a legitimate shot of her with the running pack? My best guess: Todd took real photos, but they all showed kids. Both the walkers and red-bandana guy could have been necessary to fill in holes created by taking kids out.
My proficiency with photoshop is limited: does a more experienced user know if the current version of the program can automatically identify the outline of a person and then duplicate it? I could imagine someone manually defined red-bandana guy and included the pony tail by mistake, but I’m wondering if an automatic program might have attached the ponytail by mistake, and the dolt doing the photoshopping didn’t notice. Not that it matters, I suppose.
September 14, 2011 at 12:42 am
LV, unless I misunderstanding you – this woman’s and matchup of hair, top, etc, proves that the photo with Sarah running was photoshopped. The red bandana man does not have a ponytail. That belongs to another runner who Ozmud has located, with the helpful factor of Sarah Palin in the background.
The original photo looks like red bandana man has a ponytail, and there are absolutely no other signs of a person being next to him, otherwise. No feet down below, no arms, no body….just a phantom ponytail. Impossible, and therefore PROOF that the originally released photo was tampered with.
Stupid Palin camp. They screw everything up, every time.
THANK YOU OZMUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Fantastic job.
September 14, 2011 at 12:43 am
I meant “I’m” at the start of my comment.
September 14, 2011 at 12:43 am
and “woman’s photo”….yeesh 🙂
September 14, 2011 at 12:46 am
Btw, can you imagine how careless that photoshopper had to be to miss this ponytail thing?
I have to say, also, I have always felt red bandana man looks like he’s floating above that street, too.
Don’t know what the closeups would have to say about that one, or if it has been looked at already.
September 14, 2011 at 1:17 am
Ozmud, you sure proved me wrong. I thought this whole race thing was a red herring and a distraction from more important things at hand. In fact, you’ve proved something even larger than whether or not Palin cheated. You’ve proved that if one tenacious person had tackled the pregnancy hoax when it happened, I wouldn’t be writing this comment on your blog. I haven’t read your work enough to know if you’re a man or woman, but I’m betting woman– just because we have the will to investigate the minutiae until the truth pops out. Hooray for you, whoever you are! You taught me a lesson.
September 14, 2011 at 1:25 am
Great work Oz!
Re the photoshop timing: Not sure if this is worth anything, but I did note the following:
8:30am ET (7:30 Iowa time) Race begins
10:16am ET (9:16 Iowa time) SP crosses finish line
10:34am ET (9:30 Iowa time) Gretawire posting of photoshopped start photo
I really think that all the photos used for the photoshop pic were taken by Todd from the start of the 5K. I’m pretty sure that is him standing there in IMG 2469. (I tried to purchase the digital image, but the web site that selection is not available).
Anyway, he had to have emailed them to someone BEFORE SP crossed the finish line, because it had to take someone a fair amount of time to do the photoshopping (but clearly, they did not put enough time into it!)
Also, I just noticed that there are LOTS of new SP photos up at the dotphoto site — at the end. Mostly hanging with the Ivey family (who are directors of the race — and Dr. Ivey coincidentally ran in Anchorage race in August). I can’t help but wonder how they fit into this whole scheme.
September 14, 2011 at 1:40 am
LV @ 11:41 pm, the picture on the right was taken several minutes later than the fuzzy picture on the left — if you look at the SLRC pictures.
See my labelled screen cap from a re-oriented GoogleEarth view of the resort http://bit.ly/qmArd7 …
…and the IMG_2469 picture at http://www.dotphoto.com/GuestViewAlbum.asp?AID=6440285 — the picture of pony-tail girl and Palin in the background is IMG_2478, and a bit later in IMG_2488, Palin from the rear as they run south along the lakeside route.
If you were to look at Sunset Park Road alongside the Kings Pointe Waterpark Resort where the race started, you can see the road divides as it approaches Lake Shore Drive. Google Earth shows this clearly — http://bit.ly/np0Ddv (see also http://kingspointeresort2-px.trvlclick.com/downloads/resort_map.pdf )
However the route of the race turns SOUTH alongside Sunset Park Road at the start.
Keeping in mind the morning shadows arise from the east behind the golf course clubhouse…I believe the fuzzy picture (said in the first reports of this race to have been taken by Todd Palin with a cellphone) was taken as he stood at the edge of the resort SE parking lot entrance looking NE across the grass strip, across the southbound lane where the runners in the foreground were starting out. The trees in the median strip were in the background, and the golfcourse clubhouse in the far background.
My point is, as it has been since the picture appeared here http://bit.ly/qmArd7 and at The Immoral Minority, is that the pic is legitimately produced.
BUT it’s certainly not proof that Sarah Palin ran all 13.1 miles — and that I’m sure we all agree is the real question.
I think the quote from Brenda McVinua in the Storm Lake Tribune is hilarious. She did Todd’s bidding, all right, but told US exactly what we were sure happened.
September 14, 2011 at 1:45 am
I’ll ask again. How did Todd P. get his hands on the red shirt? When? Where? The race course doesn’t repeat itself, right? That’s 13 miles, a long way to just look for someone. How did he know where to find SP and get the red shirt he’s holding after the race? Was it passed on to him? If so, what happened to incognito?
September 14, 2011 at 1:51 am
okay, help me out, here: how can you be so sure this is the person with the ponytail when you can only see the ponytail? Hope you’re summary lets on how the photoshop was done. Are you going to get the word out about this or confront her directly?
Thanks for all your great work and lack of discipline! They should give you a medal… 😉
September 14, 2011 at 1:51 am
@Ginger and oz
Brad S. posted on three sites that I know of that the photo was definitely not photoshopped. Then he changed his mind, said it was staged, not photoshopped. Got posters to go along with him based on his reputation. I’m sure Brad is a fine man but this is what happens when you take the word of an ‘expert’ at face value. Oz didn’t and pursued this clinically.
The photo is bullshit just like her time is bullshit and the ‘wild ride’ is bullshit. Everything Palin is bullshit.
September 14, 2011 at 2:20 am
I think its obvious now that Sarah faked this marathon. She did not run the whole thing. She cheated. She is a fraud. The only thing that would convince me any different is a video of her running the whole thing. In this YouTube day and age why WOULDN’T there be a video?
Oh and here’s a little thought exercise. Imagine if any other politician or public figure tried to pull off this same scam with an equally absurd photoshop job. They would be eviscerated in all the media. Yet somehow Sarah keeps getting away with her deceptions. The media is not doing its job.
September 14, 2011 at 2:24 am
I think one of the major problems with the lack of scrutiny that Sarah faces from the media is due to the fact that normal human beings automatically assume the other person is telling the truth. That they have some sort of honor. That they tell the truth. That’s the problem with Sarah; you have to assume she is lying by default and most normal humans can’t accept that. “Who would lie about this?” they think. Sarah Palin would. She has NO honor.
September 14, 2011 at 2:31 am
Tom,
The race course didn’t go around the same track multiple times, but half marathoners ran past the start area after about 4 miles.
check it out here:
Click to access JumpRightIn-map.pdf
September 14, 2011 at 2:42 am
If you look at image 2481:
http://www.dotphoto.com/GuestViewImage.asp?AID=6440285&IID=253859698&INUM=12&ICT=447&IPP=16
You can see the grey house that is in the “original” picture of SP running on the grass. You can clearly see that this house appears BEFORE the dividing median has ended. So the argument that in the two pics above, the righthand ponytail girl pic must have come well before the left hand “original” SP/bandanna guy pic is wrong. You can clearly see the end of the median in the ponytail girl pic. And you can see the end of the median in pic 2481, and you can see the grey house way back before the end of the median.
BAM!
September 14, 2011 at 2:45 am
Mr. Guest: you are SO RIGHT! Most people DO assume others would not tell such blatant lies, because MOST of us could never imagine doing such things! Until you have experienced a blatant, pathological liar yourself, it’s hard to believe people are capable of this kind of thing. People like Sarah take advantage of this.
September 14, 2011 at 2:50 am
She probably cheated at kids birthday parties when it came to pin the tail on the donkey.
We know she has no honor or integrity, but tell that to her bots.
We can site chapter and verse but those that prefer to be blind will never see.
September 14, 2011 at 2:54 am
I have really enjoyed reading your blog. I like the common sense way you approach thing, please carry on.
September 14, 2011 at 2:55 am
@ comment #32 – because it’s late and I can’t read your name! rofl
I can’t be ‘sure’. I can only make best guesses and ask questions. I’ve posted my reasons for selecting the girl as the owner of the mysterious ponytail though and you’re certainly free to disagree – but you’ve raised a different question – so here goes:
I personally know people who cut the sleeves off sweatshirts before exercising. So for me, sleeveless does not necessarily mean it’s not a hoodie. “My impression” of the raised bit of cloth on her right shoulder is that it could be the hem of a hoodie that is laying perfectly flat on the left side and almost flat on the right.
These are of course my opinions – and I may have not worded things as carefully during the past few posts as I normally would – this has been a gruelling task and I apologize if I’ve made any overly-cocky statements 🙂
@ Tom – I am so far removed from the world in which Joe McGinniss, Brad Scharlott and the other bloggers/writers who have made impressive literary contributions hang out it simply is not in me to criticize their opinions. Agree with me or not – it makes little difference to the world in which I live.
I have no reputation to protect. I’m not afraid to be wrong. I believe this photo was sewn together to shore up a flailing public image. It wouldn’t be the first time Sarah’s faked something to get what she wanted.
September 14, 2011 at 2:58 am
@fig
I see that now. Thanks, fig.
September 14, 2011 at 3:00 am
Re. what I said about Pin the tail on the donkey.
My bad. It should have been pin the tail on the elephant.
She is going to screw the RNC.
September 14, 2011 at 3:04 am
Oz –
Truly you are SO unfair to Sarah. Using reason, logic, photographic evidence and admitting to mistakes. After re-considering your work, you acknowledge errors and make changes… thus, your working document is high level “output.” Clearly, this is all dirty pool according to SP.
September 14, 2011 at 3:05 am
@ozmud
I understand. I’ve learned not to take experts at their word. Joe McG immediately wrote that Palin finished the race, posted photos to prove it and dismissed anyone who thought otherwise. He was wrong. Brad likewise was sure of himself. He was absolutely, authoritatively correct—with two separate opinions. He was wrong—twice.
In a world where academics get paid large sums of money to write an opinion beneficial to their benefactors (though likely not the case here), trust has become a commodity with a price.
September 14, 2011 at 3:05 am
In this pic (2488) where we see Palin from behind:
http://www.dotphoto.com/GuestViewImage.asp?AID=6440285&IID=253859698&INUM=12&ICT=447&IPP=16
The woman in the dark grey sweatshirt/black pants/white shoes is, I believe, the same woman just back from Palin in the “original” photo https://ozmud.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/palin-running-in-iowa1.jpg
I think that that whole middle-ish chunk, including Palin, was spliced together with the back chunk of walkers and the front chunk of runners. I think Palin probably did pull ahead of the woman in grey/black at some point (you know, before she veered off the course to wait and re-enter at the end).
And are these (2520, 2521, 2522) photos of red bandanna dude? I think so. Same grey shirt, dark blue shorts, blue shoes.
http://www.dotphoto.com/GuestViewImage.asp?AID=6440285&IID=253859698&INUM=12&ICT=447&IPP=16
And here in one of the finish line pics, we can see red-plaid-shorts dude from the “original” photo (2567)
http://www.dotphoto.com/GuestViewImage.asp?AID=6440285&IID=253861173&INUM=76&ICT=447&IPP=16
September 14, 2011 at 3:09 am
I’ve been looking at people around town running in this coolish weather, and most perspire and you see it on their faces. (I in my car, they on the sidewalk). They aren’t running marathons, but a mile or so at most.
Also given her behavior patterns it would be logical from her boundless energy at times that she is on amphetamines for weight control and energy and antidepressents to bring her down for sleeping.
These combinations can kill, give strokes or cause serious problems.
I don’t know if they can stop perspiration.
September 14, 2011 at 3:17 am
Her bangs and hair was clumped up and wet and her face sweaty at the Iowa State Fair, but nothing but no facial sweat or wet hair or bangs when running so many miles.at a half marathon. Just that strange water pattern that seems to be dumped on her grey T shirt.
September 14, 2011 at 3:39 am
@ginny – yes those are the three pics found yesterday of Red Bandana Guy. I didn’t post them because the gnarled tree behind him actually creates such a busy background none provided absolute proof he doesn’t have a ponytail. They proved it to me – but not so that I could confidently build a case around them.
Good catch though ginny – thanks!
September 14, 2011 at 3:41 am
My head is definitely starting to hurt! OZMUD, did you contact Storm Lake Running Club asking why SP ran with the 5Kers yet received a medal for 1/2 marathon? If I were a running club or a runner, I’d be ticked off if anyone cheated to win a medal, let alone a celebrity such as SP.
What we don’t see in these pictures is the telling part of this hoax and we don’t see SP running with the 1/2 marathon runners – – only finishing with them! The running club should be calling her out if she pulled a running-gate.
Regarding pics – there are several pics near the water station around #181 and up. Yellow shorts guy and blue tank top girl are in those pics. These two finished close to each other (#291 & #295) and SP (#297) finished right behind them – but I don’t see SP in any of the water station pics if she was keeping pace with them.
Also, at the finish line there is no one coming up behind SP; yet a 39 year old female runner was 45 seconds behind SP – probably the lady in black tank and shorts with purple jacket tied at waist. By the way I see that lady in the first group of pics (#26) but didn’t locate her anywhere else along the route.
September 14, 2011 at 3:55 am
Ozmud, you are hilarious. I l LOVE that update. We all gotta admit, Sarah Palin provides so much entertainment, really. Gryphen gets going on her, as do others, and the comedy is not to be believed!
I am laughing so hard.
Boofidity! I think you are correct that the girl may have done a double pull through with her hairtie by the time the second picture was taken. I do that all the time; just was out walking and did it, particularly as I got sweatier.
The gazelle line was priceless, too.
She’s the gift that keeps on giving, that’s for sure. We can count on Sarah Palin to do something ridiculous on a regular basis.
All that being said, this is deadly serious business. This pathological liar and her posse were almost a step away from the most powerful post in the world, arguably. Not funny in the slightest, and one of the most reckless political events in our history. Thanks to the GOP or John McCain or whomever else was in on that one. (Big Oil, NeoCons, Big “Religion”, Winger Media…)
We are not going to let that happen again.
September 14, 2011 at 4:00 am
everspring, your point about the wide open spaces – non-populated – all around Sarah as she crossed that finish line with a perky smug smirk on her face, checking her stopwatch, is very astute.
I have not paid much attention to the race data as I know nothing about such stuff, but do other finish times indicate there should be more people around her?
The best would be finding pics of people who ostensibly finished in close time proximity to Sarah Palin, to show conditions around that finish line. Number of people, sunlight angle, stuff like that.
I think you guys have checked some of that already.
September 14, 2011 at 4:48 am
Strange, once you see that the red bandana man doesn’t have a pony tail you wonder how on earth you didn’t spot it immediatly. It looks so obvious.
Maybe that is how Palin will be finally discredited. Once you see her fakery you see it all.
Her bots will simply move on to another cult object as that is their personal problem? They want a savior. And Sarah Palin is anything but a saviour. She could well be one of those demonic forces they are so sure are plaguing her progress.
I can’t get into the photos, but appreciate all those hours others have spent trying to get a clear picture of her place in the actual race.
September 14, 2011 at 5:10 am
Ozmud, I think you should be looking for a woman with bushy hair, not a woman with a ponytail. It looks like a ponytail on red-bandana guy, but it does not look like a ponytail on the phantom woman, it just looks like the back of her head which has longish brown bushy hair. If it were a ponytail, what you suspect is her nose would be in a very different position. Try drawing in the outline of her head and I think you’ll see what I mean.
September 14, 2011 at 5:11 am
Ozmud, I can’t really follow the extremely detailed analysis of ponytail girl. Too much noise in the pixels for me. However, some more general observations:
As has been stated, the race was divided between the 5k runners and walkers on the left and the half marathoners on the right. You can see that they are standing very near the curb cut which is the drive to the King’s Pointe resort. In the flying Palin photo you can see that she is just arriving at the point where the curb makes the turn into the drive. She is just in front of the walkers, clearly far from the front runners in the 5k group. She is already way behind.
Later, you see Palin on the roadway heading south among a large group of slow and medium speed runners. A few photographs later in the sequence there is a view showing the slow runners on the left on the main roadway, and the front running 5k runners heading back north on the narrow path at right, having made the course turnaround. You can see at that point the runners who finish first in the 5k–the tall young man in the orange shorts and the moustached man in white tank top.
The half marathoner runners have, at this point, run much further south and won’t be coming back on the same path until quite a few minutes later. Palin disappears after heading south and does not appear again until she crosses the finish line with a purported 1:46 half marathon time.
It doesn’t matter whether the flying Palin shot is Photoshopped or not. She is clearly in the rear of the 5k start group–in that photo and in one of the official photos made at the beginning of the race. She is clearly not running among the faster half marathoners in the shot taken on the road.
That’s all we need. She did not start with the correct group, and she did not keep up with the half marathoners on the road. She did not run the race legitimately. Period. End of story.
September 14, 2011 at 5:29 am
Red Bandana Guy’s right leg has always looked, well, stunted to me. But the sole of his right shoe seems to have “slipped” a bit too far towards his heel, that ankle is too thin, and while the front of his right thigh seems to protrude just slightly in front of his running shorts, the rear of the shorts themselves somehow seems to have moved forward too far about about an inch or so down from the bottom of his shirt. I don’t know who Photoshopped this but it wasn’t a very good job, to say the least.
September 14, 2011 at 5:37 am
Since it is the road to her hotel, she could have even gone back to take a nap. I’m being fecitious here, but popping into toilets rest stops or napping she doesn’t appear to be running. She is sure relaxed at the end. I think she stayed at Kings Point resort and if they hadn’t checked out??? Usually 11 is checkout time.
As a change of topic, Some of Levi Johnstons book is out via Associated Press. Huffington has had it for 20 hours.
He says Bristol was jealous of her mother pregnancy?? and said I should be having the babies and decided to get pregnant. March 2008..
For those wanting a change. Anything Palin is Crazy as always.
September 14, 2011 at 5:52 am
Image # 400 or IMG 2858 shows the back of her head, the hair at the nape of her neck and temple are DRY…
I have long hair, I work at a garden center ,I wear my hair up, and the hair at the nape of my neck and at the temple are wet most of the time just from work activity, if I’d just run 13 miles I’d be soaked. Hair line and armpits, not to mention other bits.
And yes I realize not all people produce the same amount of perspiration, I am not a heavy sweater, if someone had snapped a photo of me from that angle after having just run 13 miles, I guarantee you that hair would still be at least DAMP, if not soaked. The nape hairs tend to curl a bit as well after being wet and partially or fully air dried.
But hell we all know she didn’t run the entire course, just another Palin scam as usual, full of lies, full of holes. And yet, she goes unquestioned by the media she loves to hate so much.
She really does LOVE that ~lamestream media~… they keep her on our computers and televisions day in and day out, and that, after all is where she wants to be… she is an attention whore, she KEEPS herself in front of the cameras and then chooses when to cry victim, continuing the ugly ugly cycle…
If the “media” won’t call her on her shit, they just need to quit putting her on the nightly news cycles, ratings be damned… Poison is poison, and we are being poisoned by her one little dose at a time. She is pure poison. I have never heard that woman utter one uplifting or positive word to the American people. She has never offered a reasonable or positive solution to resolve any of the problems we are now facing.
Sarah Palin SHUT THE FUCK UP until you can not only OFFER some solutions, but take the action needed to implement them. I am sick of your miserable, self centered ass.
Whiners are a dime a dozen. Put up or shut up Sarah. What you could QUIT is WHINING and actually DO something constructive!
Wow… sheepishly stepping off the soap box I hadn’t intended on mounting when I started this comment. But I stand by it all.
September 14, 2011 at 5:59 am
Brian, agreed – that’s what I said. She didn’t run the 1/2 marathon race and needs to be called on it. I believe one of the 5K women said SP was next to her as the race began and had tried to get her red shirt off. Can someone (Oz?) locate that woman’s comments again and send that along with an email and the pics as proof to the running club that she did not run the 1/2 marathon? The running club committee needs to challenge her on this. I can’t recall where I read that woman’s comment. Imagine SP being brought down by the PJ bloggers over running-gate!
September 14, 2011 at 6:26 am
Cheating on a race like this is not a trivial thing. It shows malice aforethought, disregard for rules, contempt for others, and demonstrates that she has no scruples when it comes to furthering her own interests. It is despicable behavior.
PJ bloggers rule!!
September 14, 2011 at 6:48 am
IMO, Sarah was ‘shopped in to the running pic that Greta posted. Please see this blowup and note the difference in pixel size of the grass under her foot, at the orange arrow.
Also, the yellow arrows point to where her foot was blended in to the background her image was pasted into.
http://goo.gl/miYB5
I don’t know how you could get grass to photograph at different pixel sizes like that.
September 14, 2011 at 7:17 am
With all respect to everyone looking for Photoshop evidence–these are compression artifacts, pixels blocking up, jagged edges, color blocks bleeding into other color blocks, not necessarily evidence of pasting or cloning.
There is plenty wrong with this image without going to this level of pixel peeping. Whatever was done had to be done quickly and simply. The runners and walkers are too close together. Palin appears to be pasted on–you won’t find anything looking at the edges. Look at the overall appearance. There appears to be a seam running through part of the image. But it’s all too mushy to be definitive. The image isn’t even sharp to start with.
The key thing is that Palin is with the 5k runners at the rear. She then finished a stellar 1:46 time in the half marathon. That’s the main thing wrong with this picture.
We need eyewitnesses and/or additional photographs.
September 14, 2011 at 7:23 am
As always, thanks fo?r all your efforts and insights.
Is there anyway you can post hi-res pics for us to download and blowup many generations, just to be sure we’re on the same page, always, with you?
Maybe a zip file of all the pics you’ve referenced or used so far? I don’t mean to be disrespectful so please don’t be offended.
Thanks, again 😉
September 14, 2011 at 8:03 am
Regardless of all the time spent on the photos none of it matters unless someone in the national media or local Iowa media wants to take a look at it. Nobody needs to convince us. That’s why we’re here.
September 14, 2011 at 8:18 am
Until there is a post mortum of her frauds, when she is finally unmasked for the greater good of the country. She is toxic.
At least we can say we were there and we spoke up.
She seems to be dumping merde on everyone now, so they will eventually gang up on her.
September 14, 2011 at 9:14 am
As someone mentioned earlier (sorry, I forgot who you are! ;?) : From where did Toad get the red sweater he is holding in that one group picture at the end of the run? Did Toad run alongside $arah and picked it up? I saw several pictures of runners that had a jacket/sweater/coat tied around their waist at the end, but somehow, $arah was able to hand hers off to Toad?????????
Also, too: I feel bad for the REAL winner of the second prize that was cheated out of her rightfully-earned medal! That alone should make the sportclub check the validity of $arah’s claims. (IMO, there would have been much less damage done, if she had chosen to come in – say – 5th or 6th. But she chose #2. 😦
September 14, 2011 at 10:29 am
“…Ozmud, I think you should be looking for a woman with bushy hair, not a woman with a ponytail. It looks like a ponytail on red-bandana guy, but it does not look like a ponytail on the phantom woman, it just looks like the back of her head which has longish brown bushy hair….”
Agree 100 percent. It looks like the back of a woman’s head, not a ponytail. Also, there’s no way to identify the woman, but if I had to guess, I wouldn’t pick the woman on the right.
Keep investigating because there’s no way Sarah made time like that in this race, sauntering over the finish line without being winded. The original greta photo still looks photoshopped to me. I also agree with most of what Brian said.
September 14, 2011 at 11:16 am
The fact of having given a major news outlet a tampered-with picture is flat out unacceptable misrepresentation, and that’s probably putting it politely. No other politician would be allowed to do that and get away with it. They would be vilified. They would be called out as audacious liars. That’s even before getting to the question of whether or not she cheated in the race.
Did anyone notice how all the posed pictures after the race – taken by the professional photographer – are involving Sarah? Minus maybe 2 or 3; there are a few of a couple wearing a lot of purple. Other pictures of runners post-race are of them running and/or walking through and perhaps greeting friends and loved ones, but they are strictly candid shots. Only Sarah Palin had so many pictures taken of herself posing with other participants. What is that?!? The bells are going ding ding ding ding, and the red flags are flying up in the air. This was such a set up. The photographer took pictures because she is famous, I suppose, but then as far as I can tell they haven’t posted them on their webpage or anything. These pictures are even hard to find. So what was the point?
Is the curbed area where her running shot was taken sort of mid-course? I realize others have been over this, I am slow. It seems like so few of the on sale pictures were taken there, and there are none with a pack of people at that point. Have we even been able to identify that spot on the course? Or do we think it’s the beginning? I don’t think there are curbs there, though. I will look some more. There’s more to discover, I think.
Definitely many others looked far more winded than Sarah Palin at the end of the race! Very flushed and sweat everywhere.
September 14, 2011 at 11:20 am
Duh, sorry to be so dumb. We have clearly established that running photo was taken at the beginning!
September 14, 2011 at 12:33 pm
@Fed Up
Both the 5K and the half marathon courses pass the start line in their routes so the red shirt could have been been ditched to TP there.
September 14, 2011 at 1:35 pm
Sorry if I’m repeating somebody else’s “find”, but have you discussed the man in the white turtleneck?
The hem of his white shirt (with the gray stripe) “touches” the torso of Red Bandana Man.
If you follow his back, they lead to black pants, and ZERO LEGS. Instead, you see the far curb floating under his body.
September 14, 2011 at 1:52 pm
Awesome find, Punkinbugg!!!!!!
I don’t think that one has been mentioned yet. It’s like we’re all just slowly scanning our way across this photo with a magnifying glass. So much right under our noses that we can’t see automatically.
There is a tiny leg and foot angled down in front of that guy, but it would be physically impossible for them to be his.
September 14, 2011 at 1:53 pm
OZ, how do you do it? I’m exhausted and confused at dismembered body parts being allowed in a race, there must be some safety concerns for the real runners! I’ve been following your blog on this topic and find your keen eye for detail absolutely amazing.
I think Todd and his budgiesmuggling pals did all the sloppy photoshopping and manipulations. It has their “fence building acumen” all over it. I’m not familiar with the intricascies of the photoshop progam, but I’ve seen examples of what it’s able to do, and whoever did this is clearly an amateur.
Keep up the good work, I appreciate your efforts, especially since other blogs have dismissed it out of hand. She’s a fraud in every sense of the word.
September 14, 2011 at 1:59 pm
One other thought: have any of us speculated WHY Sarah felt the need to offer up a photoshopped picture of herself running in the race, if she did at least start it? Simply because she didn’t get a photographer to document her, so they “staged” it through the miracle of computers?
Shows how easily she manipulates appearances without so much as a thought about the ethics of the matter. Also how easily she/they overreach in offering up more proof than is necessary about stuff. Maybe because they have guilty consciences and they fear we can read their minds or something!
September 14, 2011 at 3:00 pm
Ozmud, this is great work. Until today I was sitting on the “staged, but not photoshopped” fence. I am now firmly sitting on the photoshopped side. The disembodied hair is a brilliant find. BTW, I think the bump that looks like an Adam’s apple at first glance is, I believe, boofidy hair woman’s chin, not her nose. This really does appear to the the nail in the coffin for the race hoax (at least picture hoax, I suppose they can still say the finish time was legit somehow). When you’re ready to send out a summary to the media, be sure to include Andrew Sullivan and Mediaite. I think they both would be interested in it.
September 14, 2011 at 3:20 pm
I can’t believe anyone actually gives credence to the original photo of Sarah running “around” the other runners in the picture. It is such as obvious photoshop – no feet touching the ground, the perspective is off, the color is off. It just isn’t a credible photo.
September 14, 2011 at 4:32 pm
This is only a guess, but I think the picture may have been photoshopped because the photo op they were planning didn’t work out. In the very early picture that shows Sarah at the beginning of the race (2478), she is clearly positioned on the outside of the runners– not unlike in the photoshopped one (although she probably wasn’t on the grass). But perhaps when she passed the photographer, she was in a pack surrounded by children and/or walkers, and it just wasn’t an acceptable image.
September 14, 2011 at 8:44 pm
Another note: I actually own a sleeveless hoodie, proving they do exist, if only rarely. Well mine has tiny cap sleeves which are almost unnoticeable, but I have seen actual sleeveless ones for sale. Hope that helps quash that problem.
I am tossing up whether the hair is a ponytail or just hair, too. I think that if the bump that the photoshopper thought was his Adams apple is her chin then it could be a ponytail. If it is actually her nose however, I can see the problem and then it is either a strange looking high ponytail or just the back of someones head.
However, I find it strange that someone would go in to a race with hair like that and NOT tie it up in some secure manner?! That’s one HEAD of hair and even in a short race it would quickly become cumbersome. But who knows, maybe she was running late and had a tie around her wrist ready and it IS that woman you found. I agree with you that in her frontal photo her hair is in full bounce, and could potentially look alot shorter than it really is. Indeed, I’m finding it hard to believe there could be two such heads of hair in one race! It’s a real head of hair one doesn’t see often. Coupled with the colour, which is a pretty auburn when the sun hits it it is a rare head indeed. So I’m inclined to believe this is the girl in question. Is there any possible way we can find out her name from the number in the race and perhaps ask her some questions? I know it’s a long shot…but these guys should know they were cheated! I’m amazed that we haven’t been inundated with comments from them. Some of them must have googled ‘sarah palin silver lake half marathon’ or something and found this? I find the silence suspicious. If I’d raced with someone famous I would absolutely look up the details on google!
September 14, 2011 at 10:49 pm
Thanks Oz, you’re remarkable.
For me, the first photo sent out by Todd to Greta wire was an amateur attempt and not convincing at all.
So it’s that plus what we know about her not being in condition to run a 1/2 marathon. she’s never been seen in public & reported to be “running” to get into shape for a marathon.
She didn’t SAY she ran the whole race when she tweeted a shout out to Storm Lake. She was covering her ass.
Most reporters don’t question anything out loud for fear of blow back from her bots, and this subject probably wasn’t worth it anyway.
She’s been operating this way all her life and so has Todd. Just used to getting their way and with their connections through AK government over 20 yrs., they’ve networked with people who are like minded and created their own corrupt bastards club.
People who want her exposed for what she is, most probably don’t have the same kind of thinking and deceitfulness on such a grand scale. Remembering that SP has got away with this behavior for so long and it’s worked for her until now, what else should we expect. She may have had some people in AK call her out on her stuff, but now there are many more calling her out.
Where she was before Rep. Giffords was shot and where she is today, relevant to the public opinion, is miles from where she would like to be. Can’t Photoshop your lies Sarah! Can’t fool all the people all the time.
The mean spirited right wing are after power and that’s what is scary, because they’re being voted in!
September 14, 2011 at 11:28 pm
New comment at IM by Anon238:
Anonymous said…
To most recent comment–Sarah does not need to “triangulate” nor speculate. She knows who I am. The person I get my “intel” as you call it is in her inner circle and for reasons I can’t go into here Sarah can’t just ditch this person, much as she would like to. I know people are curious and I would like to share more but cannot do so without “outing” this person…something I promised not to do. Neither myself or my “inner circle member” is scared of Sarah; we ARE fearful of her rabid followers. They go to any lengths to threaten, punish, and slight Sarah’s percieved enemies and for that reason I must be careful not to reveal who this person is.
The reason I wanted to post tonight is that I’ve heard Sarah is waiting for Joe and Levi books before announcing a run. She has no plans to REALLY run, but she feels a pseudo-run with an eleventh-hour bow out will keep the fires of her base stoked for the interminable political striptease that will be 2012-2016.
Anyway, Sarah and Bristol both are just…well, I can’t actually think of a word to describe how angry–about the snippet of Levi’s book which was leaked. It’s ironic that Bristol’s book was called “not afraid of life” and yet when Levi actually tells the truth about LIFE, of their courtship (as it were) she is so spastically livid it makes Sarah look like mother Teresa.
Sarah has made a big blunder in saying Levi wasn’t present for Tripp’s birth. If she had remembered…she’d already told in an interview that he WAS there. I think what happened is the same thing that’s happened in SO many re-tellings related to the pregnancies, births, announcements, and so on. Levi was likely there for ONE OF the births but not the other.
Basically as I understand it, they are going through Levi’s short life to mine any even remotely embarrassing crumb on which to dump humiliation on him. They are already crafting a statement about how Levi (and they are throwing in Sadie for grins) is only profiting off the Palin name and how he didn’t see fit to pay a dime of child support out of “his book advance”. They don’t even know if he GOT an advance–they are just throwing anything and everything against the wall and hoping something sticks.
I just wanted to put this out there…basically hoping they would want to change the plan of action simply to prove me wrong. I really would prefer they leave Levi alone and not punish him for telling the truth–that might discourage others from deciding to speak up.
Todd is suddenly feeling like his manberries are in a vise after Jesse’s post on Shailey’s belongings. Sarah sent a message on her blackberry saying she had asked Todd if “we were going to have any unpleasant surprises” over this and “Todd said no, he doesn’t think so”.
Which, from what Shailey has intimated is accurate…well, let’s just say it may indeed be a veritable metal-encased feast flying through that Wasilla kitchen.
Signing off for now–I’m at long last on my way home after two unexpected detours…and I can’t wait to sleep in my own bed and get back to my routine and home and so on.
If you hear or read any reports attacking Levi, please consider the most likely source and respond accordingly.
8:39 PM
September 14, 2011 at 11:36 pm
If you want Sully or Rachel or other media to pick up on this, someone needs to do a concise summary of the best evidence, photos and narrative, for Sarah’s photoshopping and not running the half marathon.
There’s so much great stuff here, but it is spread out over several posts and the comments and takes too long to read and synthesize for anyone other than people like us to pick up on. But I don’t know that Oz or anyone else has the time to do this. Would it get buried anyway under Joe’s revelations, or get more attention because he puts Palin in the news? Don’t know.
Thank you, Oz, and all of your commenters for the great work here.
September 15, 2011 at 12:06 am
I agree with B that a concise summary with photos would be useful. I’d be as factual as possible in order to convince the skeptical.
September 15, 2011 at 12:30 am
@ B and Brian; Ozmud has said she is working on one summary post with all the evidence. Once we have that, we must do all we can to get it out there! Wonkette or Gawker might be interested and both I believe have tip emails.
If we can prove this one lie, we can open Sarah up to scrutiny of ALL the lies she constantly tells. So many of her supporters truly believe she is a superwoman that hunts and fishes and runs spectacular half marathons. This will crush many of her followers and she knows it.
I’d love to get all her lies out there. The two babies presented as Trig (!!!), the lie about taking a camper van from alaska to California to see Bristol on DWTS when the timings were impossible, babygate as a whole, her fake hunting and fishing stories and the fact that her whole persona is a LIE!
I can’t WAIT for SP to get what she deserves! And Sarah, we know you’re reading this. We all CANT WAIT to see you get your commupance. Trust us, it’s coming! What with the new doco, Levis book and Joe’s book telling the truth finally? You’re done!
September 15, 2011 at 1:39 am
This is her most recent hoax. But is 10 days old.
Right now it seems that leaks from Mcginniss and Johnston books will be the focus of attention.
Tidbits for her racist fans. A one nite stand years ago with a famous black athlete. That will send her white male admirers into a tale spin.
Sex sells.
I doubt that this race will get coverage now that more salacious though very old scandals are being leaked.
September 15, 2011 at 1:40 am
I meant tail spin. LOL. Her white racist male fans are not going to like this.
September 15, 2011 at 2:42 am
I think this and other things will finally get exposure now. The lurid stuff is what draws the wider world in, so it can help.
September 15, 2011 at 2:49 am
What if Boofy Hair isn’t hair but rather something in the background–off the track or at the far side of the track? It’s an alternate explanation for why there aren’t any visible associated body parts.
September 15, 2011 at 4:45 am
Hey Ozmud, hope you see this. Thanks for all the good work you are doing. I was looking at the pictures again yesterday and I was struck by something.
The picture taken after the race, the close up where she has her sunglasses off, a water bottle in her left hand, and there’s a woman to her the right with an arm around her shoulder —- that picture is not Sara. Maybe it’s a “double.” But I compared it with a few others that show her face up close and the face shape around the cheeks is different (more rounded), and there’s something a bit different about the eyes, too.
Just my 2 cents….
September 15, 2011 at 7:31 am
Ozmud, If you feel uncomfortable about showing children so prominently–and I understand your concerns–you can simply apply a little blur to the faces and leave everything else sharp. I don’t know what you’re using for software, but Photoshop Elements is a good way to go for under a hundred U.S. dollars, and it will allow you to do most of things you want to do.
September 15, 2011 at 8:04 am
I *may* have found Boofy Hair (love the name!) – let me know what you think. Check out IMG_2522 – is that Red Bandana Guy? The outfit seems to match what he’s wearing in the “Sarah” photo. In this picture there is a girl with a white top and green shorts that just passed him. Then, in IMG_2571, you see the same Green Shorts Girl at the finish line, and she has her hair in a high (boofy?) pony tail. Does this help?
First time poster, long time lurker – keep up the good work, everyone!
September 15, 2011 at 12:08 pm
Ozmud, I agree with Tan & others: a succinct summary of all of your great sleuthing would be great, and it could be very well timed. I’ve wondered if we aren’t finally, after all this time, at a tipping point with Palin. Between the books and film coming out, the ever growing number of people she has used & abused, and the fact that the power brokers now see her as a potential spoiler (bat-sh*t crazy spoiler) rather than a horse to ride, I think the floodgates are going to open, the skeletons are going to pour out, and all but the most hard-core ‘bots are finally going to see her for what she is.
And can the MSM possibly be far behind? 😉
(Again, major kudos to you, for staying on the case! You rock!)
September 15, 2011 at 12:18 pm
Need help on the summary – Between us we found more than two dozen things ‘wrong’ with the photo sent to gretawire – if you guys would tell me which photo-shop ‘mistakes’ you think are the most important – carry the most weight – it would help me narrow down the narrative. My experience is, if a summary is too long it risks not being read at all.
thanks – Oz
September 15, 2011 at 12:57 pm
The more that I stare at the picture, the harder it gets to tell which legs and feet belong to which runners. In some cases, the runner has two feet that match exactly, side by side. I guess if you want to hold peoples’ attention, I would put in the form a quiz, like those complicated photographs which appear on the same page with the caption, “Find the differences.” Sometimes there is a hint, such as “find 25 differences.” It starts out easy, red shoe, blue shoe, and then it gets more and more absorbing.
It might be fun to finish the photo where the legs were drawn to begin to make sense of the photo. Another contest might be “guess where the splice is” or “follow the crooked curb.” There are so many things wrong with the photo that the best way to hold the attention of people with a short attention span is to make it a game, then list the most important differences.
The thing says “fake photo” for me is that the light on Palin is different from the rest of the pack. Good luck!
September 15, 2011 at 1:07 pm
So many flubs, so little time?
Some of the details re: missing/extra feet can be hard to follow, I think. My big boo-boo list as follows:
“The Seam”
“The Hair with no Body”
bunny-hop gal
Palin floating on air (grass)
Big guy with white shirt, no lower body*
*I had noticed this and assumed that someone else had commented on it. Maybe someone could claim that the guy has a very long torso, very short legs, and the bottom of his leading leg is visible — I don’t believe it, but someone could claim it.
The other thing I would hammer on is the photographic evidence that 1) she started the race running with the 5K pack, and 2) by the time she was caught by the race photographer she was already clearly not with the 5K front-runners, i.e. clearly not running a 8-min miles.
September 15, 2011 at 2:39 pm
In whatever summary is compiled, I strongly suggest including the following eyewitness information:
1.
Brenda McVinua was among the Storm Lakers Palin chatted with after the race. McVinua was working as a volunteer in the “chute” near the finish line, and was impressed with the former vice-presidential candidate’s form. “She wasn’t even breathing hard. You could tell she’s an athlete. If you didn’t know better you would have thought she’d just run around the block once or twice.”
http://www.stormlakepilottribune.com/story/1760728.html
2.
Amy Louise Majeres – I was there, running the 1/2 marathon, and didn’t even see her. How is that possible?? September 6 at 3:02pm
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Storm-Lake-Running-Club/107388189511
I would hope that SLRC officials would investigate allegations of cheating during their race. And I’d think other runners — particularly the women in Palin’s class who came in 3rd or 4th — would voice their concern about any potential fraud.
September 15, 2011 at 3:49 pm
Kat is right on though I would disinclude ‘bunny hop’ and add the way the walkers seem to be on top of runners in stride. It’s very important to prove that Palin was in no way running 8 min. miles, that she was running with the ‘three digit numbered’s and wasn’t keeping up. Long distances require a steady pace. There’s not much of a kick at the end as in much shorter races.
Oz, you might try sending your stuff to one of the bigger Iowa papers, Des Moines maybe. Even though Iowa is sort of a right wing state, midwesterners do not appreciate duplicity, especially at their expense.
September 15, 2011 at 5:04 pm
Oz, there was a woman in the 5K who said SP was beside her when the race started – do you know where that quote came from? If not, maybe someone else can get that for you. It lends weight to the fact that she was with the 5K group.
And, really, that appears to be the crux of this whole thing. She was running with the 5K group, NOT with the 1/2 marathon runners. This does not seem to have been an “oops” mistake she inadvertently made and, therefore, FRAUD.
All of the pictures of her running (of course, including the FOX picture) are relevant. Photoshopping or faking the photo may be somewhat relevant but I don’t think it’s key to the story. I think if too big a deal is made of missing body parts and shoes and hair, then we start to sound kind of crazy (although, this kind of thinking has gotten us to the point we are at now which is a good thing). Maybe you could say a few things about the photoshopping and suggest that their photographer(s) check it out to substantiate.
For me, another thing that is key is the “silence” from her about this. For SP not to toot her own horn and tout her running skills – well, that alone speaks volumes. Can you imagine how many hours a day she has to spend reading the blogs just to try to stay one step ahead of them?
These are just my thoughts and suggestions. In the end, whatever you end up writing/sending I’m sure will be just fine. This is just one of the steps in getting people to sit up and take notice.
September 15, 2011 at 7:11 pm
If you carefully compare the Google Maps satellite image to the SLRC photos, some of the mystery evaporates. In photo 2469 you can see everyone lined up just short of the curved curb at the start (gray building off camera to the right). That curb is the one Palin is running over in the Greta photo. So the Greta photo was taken in the first seconds of the race, and everyone is bunched up because they are just getting going.
Photos 2477 and 2478 were taken several seconds later, and show Red Bandanna Guy and Palin only a few yards further along (past the stop sign). These photos are consistent with the Greta shot, and tend to confirm its location, time, and the folks in it. Yes I know it is a weird pixellated mess, but a lot of distortion often happens with a slow shutter and a clunky compression algorithm.
Moving along to SLRC IMG 2488, you can see Palin on the left, and a guy in yellow shorts coming back on the right. Halfway between them is a double driveway to the right. In pix 2495 to 2497 you can see this is the boat ramp shown in Google Maps (satellite view) just south of the Sunrise Campground. I measured this to be right at 2/3 mile from the starting line. With a time stamped photo, you could calculate Palin’s speed to here easily.
Without that info, we can use the Yellow Shorts Guy as a rough clock. He was the winner of the 5K in just under 19 minutes, seen in photo 2552. Comparing the race map to G Maps, it looks like he has run out and back almost a mile out of the 3.1 mile (5 kilometer) race. Divide 19 by 3.1 and you get just over 6 minutes for him to go a mile. So back in shot 2488, Palin has gone 2/3 mile in this 6 minutes, and she will make her first mile at about 9 minutes. If she picks up the pace (out of traffic now) to 8 minute miles, she will finish in about 1:46 despite the slow start.
On the other hand, Palin is behind the half-marathon leaders and running at around a 1:58 pace at this point, so it would be nice to have some photographic corroboration that she caught up. The later set of SLRC photos at the water table shows runners who would finish just ahead of Palin (8, 51, 19, 20, and 55), but the set ends a little too soon to tell us anything about number 63.
As for whether Palin ran the whole course, these photos only show a slow start with the wrong group.
As for whether the low resolution Greta picture is ‘shopped, why would anyone bother? The SLRC shots show her there at that time, at that place, with those people. Folks may have their suspicions, but verbally dissecting the edge interference and compression artifacts of an originally blurred shot doesn’t address the question of whether Palin actually “got lost” at Storm Lake.
Unless someone comes up with other evidence that shows Palin cutting the course after the start, the “Sarah Cheated” story doesn’t have any legs.
September 15, 2011 at 9:18 pm
I agree with JamesM that this story will go nowhere without either eyewitness accounts or additional photos. Pixel examinations won’t do it. That’s why I have focused my attention on the odd juxtaposition of the runners and walkers in the Fox photo. Palin flying in across the grass also seems suspect–was she late to the starting line? Then seeing her far back in the pack on the road heading south.
All suggest something wrong with Palin going on to run a 1:46 half marathon. Does anyone in Storm Lake care about this possible fraud?
September 15, 2011 at 9:40 pm
@JamesM – no one is disputing that Sarah entered the race and crossed the finish line. What is in dispute is whether or not she actually ran the entire race. A few compelling issues stack against her in this compilation of photographic evidence –
A. she was running with the pack of 5k walkers/runners. She should only have ever been seen running with the half marathon runners *IF* she was to take 4th best time of all the runners combined. But once the 5k walkers/runners made their turn Sarah was not seen again on the track until she crossed the finish line. Which she crossed leisurely, without any sign of perspiration on her face, panting, bending over to catch her breath and seconds later appears to have full makeup looking daisy fresh after claiming to have run 13 consecutive 8-min miles.
B. there are more than 24 abnormalities with the photo released on Gretawire. Many have been satisfactorily 4explained. Many remain dubious. Some can only be explained by a bad job of photo-shopping.
And finally – to respond to your statement of: “As for whether the low resolution Greta picture is ‘shopped, why would anyone bother? The SLRC shots show her there at that time, at that place, with those people.”
You have to remember the three principles of Sarah –
It’s easier to lie than tell the truth
no lie is too outrageous
Sarah is obsessed with her public image.
She had to guarantee herself a photo showing she pulled away from the 5k pack in order to make the claim she was such a fit athlete she could easily pull away from the pack to take second place in her age group.
She had to have a photo that day as the SLRC photos would not be out for several days and she had to quash the rumours floating about for a month that she was sickly and not fit.
A photo of her running in a pack would have been too small a concept for her and not solved her image problem.
There is a head of hair in this photo that’s missing an entire body. That’s not a pixelation/compression issue. That’s a shoddy graphics artist.
September 16, 2011 at 12:03 am
everspring, there is a Storm Lake Running Club facebook page, which is open to anyone. A woman named Cathy Otto posted that Sarah was right next to her when she started. Otto remembers her trying to get her long-sleeve shirt off (it was caught on the safety pins of her bib). I found Cathy Otto listed in the 5K race results, with a time of nearly an hour — i.e., she walked.
I think it’s beyond all shadow of doubt that Palin started with the 5K group. The problem with this by itself is that she could claim she was hiding out to avoid recognition since she wanted to keep a low profile. Of course we all know the reason she needed low profile at the beginning, but one can’t prove that. The more damning evidence, I think, is that she was not keeping up with the 8-min milers even at the start of the race, and that the photo was photoshopped — because even if the photoshopping doesn’t prove the case, if there was nothing to hide, why do it?
September 16, 2011 at 12:18 am
Just throwing out a possibility…
If it’s true that red bandana guy was shopped into the Greta photo, just like Sarah was — then I’m wondering if the placement of red bandana guy was really where Sarah was when the original photo was taken? And for some reason (?!), SP was removed, and replaced with red bandana guy — maybe they needed a body to “cover” where SP had been. Why was SP removed and placed on the lawn??? I’m sure they had it planned to send out these staged photos. Perhaps she looked like crap in the originals, perhaps kids were in the pic, perhaps they just needed to show her passing by all the slow walkers/runners.
I still think Todd took these pictures from near the start — as I do think that is him on the left in IMG 2469. The perspective makes sense when you look at the shopped photo.
Start at IMG 2474 and click forward several frames until we then see SP on the left. The shopped photo(or collection of photos) would have been taken further back a few seconds, at the start. When I look at the surrounding people — it looks like SP could have been right where red bandana guy is placed in the shopped photo.
Well, then again, maybe I’m totally wrong!
She still didn’t run the whole thing! That much we know. Why they shopped the images…??? Too crazy.
September 16, 2011 at 12:25 am
Noticed all the hispanic women servers at the restaurant I ate breakfast in have those very bushy ponetails. Placed high at the back of their heads. Seems to be the style now.
September 16, 2011 at 12:55 am
@Ozmud, re: A, I think there is too much being made of which group Palin started with. Pic 2469 shows both packs, ready to start, about 40 feet apart. By the time they get to the photographer the two groups are merging into the same single lane. Palin is in 2488, and two shots later and a quick pan to the right and you see three runners who finished before her (#42), right after her (#60) and several minutes after her (#71). At this point Palin is only a few yards to their side, not lost in some sluggish other crowd.
A few minutes later in photo 2488, Palin is definitely trailing most of the strong runners . But that’s only 2/3 of a mile into a 13 mile race. It might look fishy, but it doesn’t prove a thing. Also I don’t understand your comment about taking 4th best time of all the runners, she was 25th across the line overall.
re:B, it is not easier to photoshop than to just upload a snapshot,
there is no lie told in that picture –the SLRC pics show her right there,
(but I completely agree about her image obsession).
And what you see as a disembodied head of hair, I see as a small woman a few feet behind a big man.
Look, this is your blog, I’m not going to beat this to death. But if you want to push this story you need more evidence than you’ve got so far.
September 16, 2011 at 1:00 am
correction, in the middle of the first paragraph above I meant pic 2478, not 88
September 16, 2011 at 1:44 am
Hmmm…are there some SP supporters now weighing in and attempting to put a kibash on this?
September 16, 2011 at 4:46 am
Well, I am definitely not an SP supporter and spend a lot of time debunking her on other sites. . .and I am not convinced, at least by the evidence offered here. I have no problem with the legs and the hair belongs to the red bandanna guy. Spent a lot of time last night following/identifying runners by clothing and accessories – after figuring out my own correct link to the 2011 pictures, as the link provided was 2010 – and I came up with bupkiss. Remember you’ve got three distinct races being run here: the half marathon, the half marathon relay and the 5K. Did anyone study the course map? Does anyone know if the hierarchy of numbers means anything? Again, I found nothing, even though I am always suspicious of Palin – (like, where did the red shirt and the odd wide headband GO – they didn’t follow her to the finish line.) I just think the tack you are using here doesn’t prove anything, confuses people – I think you are all wet about the bodies in that picture, I had no problem with the legs, as long as I assumed the hair belonged to the guy (he shows up in subsequent pictures, BTW). If you push this without further clarification/evidence, in my humble opinion, you will be hurting the cause, not helping. Good luck in turning up better stuff. MicMac
September 16, 2011 at 5:54 am
@everspring: yes. The trolls here are a little more subtle than the IM Fairy Tale troll, but not hard to spot. The party line is certainly clear: I’m no Palin fan, oh isn’t this all interesting, too bad we can’t ever prove it.
It’s beyond question that Palin started with the 5K pack, which was separated by a grassy divider at the very beginning:
2478: SP in 5K pack
2479: shot of two races coming together
I.e., 2478 was clearly taken before the packs merged.
It’s also beyond question that red-bandana guy does not have a ponytale. It’s clear as day in the 800×600 pixel image I found.
But always nice of the trolls to let us know that we are on the right track 🙂
September 16, 2011 at 6:43 am
PS. faux calculations are another good clue to help spot the trolls. (“Ooh! someone has looked at this carefully, they must be right!”)
But the photographs do tell a story, and I think 2488 is an important key. I’m quite sure Palin made an effort to avoid the race photographer(s), but this one shot caught her from behind. And who is she with? You don’t see faces but you do see bodies, and clothes: a tall, squarish guy to the right, the somewhat heavyset, short woman behind Palin, a stocky person in gray shorts towards the right, etc. Now compare these people to the half marathon finishers before and after Palin crossed the finish line (photos 2745-2782). We see them one by one, good shots of each. It simply is not the group of runners Palin is with in 2488. Even allowing for clothing to have been shed, you can’t match them up. Not to mention, do any of the runners in 2488 look remotely capable of finishing a sub-2 hr marathon? Or even a sub-24-min 5K? 8-minute miles are poky if you’re an elite athlete but for most of the population, in particular women, it’s darned fast.
September 16, 2011 at 8:18 am
I am not at all suggesting that Oz or any of you be discouraged in this investigation. . .only a suggestion that Oz should get all her marbles lined up before presenting this to the “world” because, I am sorry, she has not made the case yet. Do not be further confused by assuming people are trolls and overlook something that could lead to something good, or eliminating something useless. I mean, really, get a grip on this thing. I would be very pleased were it to be proved that Palin cheated. It’s clear that she ran (which I at first doubted) and there are a couple of shots of her mid-race. Also, at first I assumed that all of the pix in the SLRC album were taken by one photographer, in chronological order. Now, I do not think so. I think Oz also has to get better information on just how this race was organized and how the field plan (you can find it on the site) fits into all of this. Some people are making assumptions based on photographs, but as I said, the photos don’t necessarily indicate chronology. Again, good luck. MicMac
September 16, 2011 at 8:59 am
Hmm… So she started with the 5K runners, couldn’t run the whole way and had to take a break somewhere (to give Toad her red sweater and headband), and then she moseyed over to the end of the 1/2 marathon… Couldn’t even finish 5K in under 1 hour!
September 16, 2011 at 10:20 am
@JamesM – 25th overall – you’re absolutely correct – I was looking at just the women’s half marathon runners (of which there were 33 listed in the .pdf) and her’s was the fourth best time, besting several women including the 19 to 30 year olds.
I appreciate your viewpoint and welcome your input – this is how I see it:
Sarah appears in two and two only photos taken from this event, both at the beginning of the race, both with the pack of 5k runners/walkers and neither with the half marathon runners.
#2469 (15/447) shows the two groups. Sarah is in the group on the left. Every other runner with a 2-digit bib is in the group on the right. By #2475 (21/447) the strongest runners have pulled ahead and are just reaching the end of the meridian which divided the two groups. In #2478 (24/447) Sarah is seen for the first time and still substantially behind the end of the meridian, in front of the walkers and behind the group of kid runners. She next appears in #2488 (34/447) which, while she’s no longer in a pack, can hardly be considered as ‘mid-race’.
Have a look at the other runners in this shot. I have no idea how you’ve named these the ‘strong runners’. These are not the bodies or clothing of the more serious runners we see depicted in the half marathon side of this race. IMHO Sarah is still with the 5k runners.
@MicMac – I have no agenda for ‘presenting this to the world’. My readership is miniscule in comparison with other political blogs and I have no aspirations to become a mega-blogger. However, that said, if the observations ‘we’ have collectively made regarding this picture convince one person in authority who has access to all the physical facts surrounding this event to take a second look at Sarah’s claim of having run the whole race I will be quite content. (And thanks for the encouragement btw.)
@ everyone – The ponytail does NOT belong to red bandana guy. It can’t belong to someone on the sidelines as it falls in front of bunny hop lady. For the owner of this mane to be just ‘a few feet to his left’ would put another set of legs/feet in between the long leg of the blonde in black pants and the guy with the missing foot – and would still be seen in part by the camera.
Personally, I think if Sarah can run a half marathon in 1:46 she could easily confirm this by publicly entering another run next month and prove to us all that she can, in fact, run 13 consecutive 8 min miles. Oh and a video would be nice too also 🙂
September 16, 2011 at 10:55 am
MicMac,
I know very well that you are one of the good guys but, the ponytail doesn’t belong to the red bandanna guy, don’t know how you can reject that, and, there are4 body parts missing, and, there is what appears to be a seam in the start photo in front of SP and behind red bandanna.
Good job, oz. Hope someone takes notice.
September 16, 2011 at 11:14 am
Oz, you are doing great, keep on it. I agree, just one person of authority needs to give this a closer examination.
September 16, 2011 at 12:14 pm
There must be someone in Storm Lake who has a picture or two of SP in the race. I realize this wasn’t the New York City marathon with millions of spectators, but still, there were certainly dozens of family and friends.
September 16, 2011 at 12:41 pm
So, I went ahead and posted something on the Storm Lake Running Club’s Facebook page down where there’s mention of SP participating in the race. I used my real Facebook identity and said that there was a controversy on the internet about the picture showing Palin starting the race in the rear of the 5K runners. And whether she really ran the whole race in 1:46. I asked for pictures or eyewitness accounts that might “help settle things one way or another.”
We’ll see what comes of it, but I’m not holding my breath. I just hope that I don’t get slammed for being an out of town interloper. Which I guess I am.
September 16, 2011 at 1:04 pm
@Brian – well that was certainly above and beyond – so know we have your back and take a bit of comfort from the fact that most great discoveries are usually perceived as bizarre acts by crazy men and women so you’re in good company. I’m sure we’ll all be called more than interlopers before we’re done 🙂
September 16, 2011 at 4:14 pm
Ozmud, do continue interloping! But while I’m impressed with the effort, I didn’t even try to follow everyone’s reasoning, because you all lack faith and cannot understand. A woman who can give birth without having been pregnant can run a half marathon without breaking a sweat, as lofted by angels’ wings she invisibly passes mere human runners ….
September 17, 2011 at 5:38 am
The print on the comments has gotten too small to read without a magnifying glass. Perhaps it is just this computer.
September 17, 2011 at 11:10 am
@lilly lily – check your web browser toolbar/view/zoom – if you have a ‘normal’ option, click that. Some use percentages – click 100% – I use FireFox which simply zooms in or out [cntrl+] to enlarge [cntrl-] to shrink. You can do this for any page on any site.
@Brian just checked the SLRC FB page – no comments to yours yet – I’m guessing not a whole lot of folks visit the page often.
Still working on the summary – time’s divided with work – but getting there 🙂
September 18, 2011 at 10:26 am
Ozmud, your summary could prove to be well-timed, now that eyes are finally being opened. Who knows, maybe somebody in the MSM would actually be willing to pursue a story that is still fairly fresh. Speaking of which, I just checked the Storm Lake Running Club facebook page: no replies to Brian’s polite question about whether or not anyone has photos that could prove that Palin actually ran the race. I strongly suspect that behind-the-scenes communications channels have been buzzing, including subtle or not-subtle pressure from the Palin camp on folks in Storm Lake, which in turn likely generated cautions sent out to members of the club.
But once again the question arises: where is the evidence that could settle the issue once & for all, if it weren’t a hoax? In this day and age there must have been dozens of people along the race course, taking photos and videos. If there were photos of Palin between the start and the end, or videos showing her keeping pace with the 8-min milers, surely somebody would rush to post them
September 18, 2011 at 10:37 am
I have to agree with others who are wanting to focus more on gaining information from those participating in the race to corroborate our theory that she, in fact, started with the 5k runners, dropped out somewhere and re-emerged when she saw a likely spot to finish. I do think that there was no intent on her part to finish as well as she did but rather ‘finish’ respectably for the sole purpose to put to rest any suggestion that she’s not fit or healthy….she and Todd likely miscalculated the re-entry. Had she come in much farther back and the photoshopped pic not published we likely would not be having this conversation! While the apparent photoshopped pic is what brought the attention to her unrealistic finish, its not the damning info. I say continue that inquiry ozmud….you’re really on to a good story here!
Sheesh
September 18, 2011 at 11:48 am
Sheesh, I agree completely. She cheated a little too well.
September 18, 2011 at 1:19 pm
Instead of miscalculating the re-entry, she could have been waiting for a signal from Toad that there was a suitably long gap between runners.
But, yeah, the demonstration of hubris is pretty stunning. If she wanted to put the rumors about her health to rest, a 5K finish at a 9-min/mile pace would’ve done the trick. But no, it couldn’t be a demonstration of fitness, she had to wow us all with her amazing athletic prowess. That’s our Sarah. Bat-sh*t crazy to the core; lies as casually (and outrageously) as she breathes.
September 19, 2011 at 10:45 am
Thought you’d get a kick out of this rendition of Sarah’s run!
September 19, 2011 at 4:20 pm
Well, I believe they did pretty much document ALL the 1/2 marathon runners SOMEtime during the race… except our $arah! (I did not write down all the #s, but there must have been close to 30 or so pictures of the double-digit #s. I believe they all came in around page 9-11 – too lazy to go back and check them out again, because my eyes almost glazed over by the sheer # of pics. :/)
September 20, 2011 at 12:21 am
I left this comment on the new thread but will copy it here in case anyone misses it.
Go to pics 2477 and 2478. I took screenshots of these from the Storm Lake website. I enlarged and lightened both pics. In 2477, look at the tall guy with the white sweatshirt and sunglasses. Just behind him on his right, I am fairly sure is red bandana man. On tall guy’s left is who I am going to refer to as white turtleneck man. There is a woman in blue in front of him. He is the guy from the original Greta starting photo towards the front.
Now if you go to 2478 which must have been taken just a few seconds later, you see Palin and also white turtleneck guy. Red bandana guy is hidden I presume behind the tall guy in this shot.
My point is that to have Palin and turtleneck man in the same shot in the Greta photo and also in 2478 means that these shots were taken very closely together timewise. Why then are the people around and behind turtleneck man in the web photos not around and behind him in the Greta pic? These people are missing. Also too the walkers should be evident to some degree in the web shots.
September 20, 2011 at 12:26 pm
I followed Red Bandanna guy (lots of pictures running past the trees). I followed the guy in black with the white triangular bandanna on his head. I followed the woman in sunglasses with the purple jacket, that had it wound around her waist at the finish line. The woman runner with the blue jerkin over a white shirt who started with Sarah. And others. Based on clothes, numbers, I tried to make sense of the finish line pictures as though they were in chronological order. I am not sure that was the case. I am not sure there were more than one photographers, in fact, it seemed there was more than one. The order of the pictures may not reflect the order of the race, especially considering there were three simultaneous events. And do the smaller numbers as compared to the larger numbers mean anything?
I find myself defaulting back to JamesM and his Google method. Look at that one picture of Sarah, from the back, running alone along the tall trees. Can he capture the time or at least the place of that photo? Was it outside of the 5K course or within? Look at the course map. There were a number of opportunities for our fair Sarah to take a powder in the rest rooms, circle back and finish within the 5K course, or an abbreviated portion of the half marathon (especially where it coursed back against itself). She DID jettison the red jacket and the thicker hatband before she was photographed at the finish line. When,where did this take place? Who took these things from her while she re-pinned the number to her grey Tshirt? That stuff took time, precious time.