While drafting the closing part to this summary piece, a few loose ends struck me as needing a separate post. Especially in light of a runner in the UK having recently been caught cheating and subsequently stripped of his bronze medal. So I ask that you bear with me through one more post before closing arguments begin.
First up – our very own Brian swam through a big bowl of piping hot conservative soup over on Facebook to ask the $64,000 question of the good people at the Storm Lake Running Club: How can you be sure Sarah ran the entire race…
So I wrote a couple of things down.
Cathy Otto (1) remembers Sarah starting next to her, not because she knew it was Sarah Palin, but because she saw a woman struggling to remove a top shirt that had been pinned by the numbers bib. Cathy Otto placed ninth in her age group (40-49) in the mixed 5k run with a time of 55:58.85 It is entirely possible she saw Sarah at the very start of the race but it’s odd to note that while Sarah was seen ‘struggling’ with the shirt, she ended up keeping it on – as a later photo will confirm. And really, all this does is reinforce the knowledge that Sarah was with the wrong pack, on the wrong side of the meridian at the start of the race.
Becca Danielle (2) who has just gone out of her way to explain why Palin might not have been noticed by the other runners, makes an odd response to a comment by someone named Jean. It’s odd because no comment by anyone named Jean appears in the thread. I’m guessing whoever it was made a remark the club didn’t like and the comment was then removed. We may never know. But we can make educated guesses.
Storm Lake Running Club (3) finally comments on the queries made by those wanting information regarding Sarah’s alleged run. It’s piss-weak however and doesn’t actually address the concerns. To say that a member of the club’s planning committee (a friend of Sarah’s perhaps?) who participated in the half marathon relay claims to have been neck and neck with Sarah throughout the first half of the race doesn’t even begin to resolve the issues presented by the photos.
Did this relay runner also begin at the back of the 5k runners on the wrong side of the meridian at the beginning? What defines the first half of the race? Half the distance of said runner’s leg of the race would be 3.5 miles – or did he or she mean neck and neck until the 7 mile mark where the runner hands off the baton? The biggest problem with this statement is the photo of Sarah still with the 5k runners after the other runners have clearly pulled ahead leaving her with the slower 5k runners – yet still running fast enough to take a silver medal at the end. Are there photos of Sarah running with this relay runner? Are there photos of the relay runner? They would be telling.
The Storm Lake club has a lot to lose by having a cheat exposed on their watch. Just look what this poor club had to deal with in the UK:
Full story here.
Follow up story here with sat nav proof of fraud.
(Editor’s note: Though we both caught this news at the same time I’m happy to give the h/t to the very nice reader who took the time to post a link about this in the comments just as soon as he or she drops me a note telling me who he or she is because I’ve totally flaked on trying to find the right set of comments and now I feel really awful!)
And to the naysayers who keep saying ‘nobody cheats in these races’ and that I’m barking up the wrong tree all I can say is – bite me.
Finally, this has bothered me. I can’t know the time distance between photos because none are time-stamped. But. We can place the Gretawire photo at the very onset of the race and at the back end of the curving meridian which separates the 5k racers from the half marathon runners – because in the Gretawire photo Sarah is just now jutting ahead of the pack of walkers – who cannot possibly keep pace with the runners anywhere else in the race.
So when we agree this photo is done at the very beginning, the changing curb in the background which should be a solid concrete curve edging what looks to be a meridian filled with redwood chips, makes no sense at all.
And somewhere beyond this meridian – the meridian where the camera captures Sarah along with our beloved Beard Dude and Red Bandana Guy – somewhere beyond the meridian and some 19-20 photos later Sarah (who ran fast enough to win the silver medal) is – well – have a look for yourself:
Sarah will be on the 5k side of the meridian which is definitely curved. She will not come from behind the walker pack for another 5 to 10 photos. In the meantime the following is taken by an as-yet-to-be-named photographer and submitted to Gretawire at Fox News:
Sarah juts ahead of the walkers and is seen flanking the nice man we named Beard Dude (grey beard, white shirt with side stripe, dark shorts) on the opposite side of the street). They are seen in this same almost-parallel positioning in this next shot, (although camera angle notwithstanding, she appears to be pulling slightly ahead of Beard Dude here) taken just 9-10 photos after the club photo (#2469 above):
And the point of this is now apparent in this next shot – another 10 photos or so later – when even though we’ve seen Sarah jutting ahead of the walkers and slower 5k runners and leaving Beard Dude and Red Bandana Guy (he’s in the photo just ahead of this one #2476) behind – and still wearing the red jumper over the grey tee and wide white headband, how should we explain what the camera saw in #2488?
And now you really have to ask yourself two questions:
1- If sarah spent so much time at the back of the 5k pack with the slower runners, how did she manage to clock 13 consecutive 8 min miles to win second place in her age group and…
2- If Sarah is still wearing the red jumper after pulling away from the opening starting area – how on earth did Todd know where to retrieve it on the track so he could be holding it for her at the finish line? Because Sarah doesn’t have it when she crosses the finish line and he’s photographed near the chute holding it all neatly rolled up – like the scam they just pulled off.
Storm Lake Running Club photos are for sale here.
To all my sleuthers – thank you all so much!
Oz Mudflats 
October 17, 2011 at 6:29 pm
I’ve not been able to return to this topic and yet the Cathy Otto statement sounds like someone *trying to justify* that silly Gretawire photo arrangement of Sarah’s red sweater and gray t-shirt, i.e. the red sweatshirt is “half-way off” because it was stuck on her bib pins!
Instead, it’s “halfway-off” in the photo so that the photo can show a bib on her her finishing attire, the gray sweatshirt, and one that has a legitimate half-marathon runner number. At this point in the race, she has still has a red sweater on and there’s the possibility that on the red sweater she has pinned a bib with a 5k runner/walker number on it.
The photo looks like someone magically cut off the bottom of the red sweater, not pulled it up. I could be wrong and perhaps she has simply rolled it up at the start of the race to show her gray t-shirt bib and then rolls it back down (as seen in a later photo of Sarah). Cathy Otto might have genuinely observed a Sarah “fumbling” with her shirt sometime near the start of the race and Sarah might have left it rolled up at least until after a photo was snapped.
The half-marathon numbers are low numbers (most are double digits, but some might have been in the 100’s). The 5k runners are high numbers (most are in the 400’s, with some in the 300’s). it’s possible, but not required, that she had a different bib on the sweater on the top. That would make her fit in seamlessly with the other 5k runners before the start.
Thank you for keeping with this, OzMud!
October 17, 2011 at 8:34 pm
Thank you, OzMud, for all the great follow-up work you’ve done on Palin’s alleged 2nd place finish in the marathon. We’ve seen absolutely zero proof that Palin runs in Alaska on a regular basis, certainly McGinniss, Dunn, Bailey or Broomfield would have spoken to someone who mentioned seeing her on these so-called “gut-thrashing” runs yet what do we hear about it…NOTHING! Did we see her staff referring to her running on a daily basis in any of the emails that were released under the FOIA? Palin has also proven to have a very short attention span and unless she’s going to get recognition for something, she’s not going to do it. When Bristol wanted to look like she lost weight, what did she do? Start eating proper meals and exercise regularly? Hell, that’s what plastic surgery is for! Where did she learn to take the easy way out? By watching Sarah all these years
Sarah has proven that she’ll do anything to get ahead, especially when it comes to her “public image”. She hired a PR firm but it sure as hell wasn’t for the state, as she said it was, it was to promote Palin, who just so happened to be Governor of Alaska. She hired advisors to write op-eds that she took full credit for yet couldn’t explain in a coherent manner if asked about their content. She had her staff fixing polls with software bought for that single purpose, that’s how she achieved those ridiculously high poll numbers. We also can’t forget those letters to the editor that were signed by her supporters, claiming they wrote them, yet they were actually written by Sarah in praise of herself. So would Sarah cheat in a marathon? Damn straight. In fact, Sarah would have gone for first place if she could have gotten away with it. Do you think she would have allowed it to be known she was running if she had no assurance that she wouldn’t finish in the top 3? Not Sarah! She would not have been happy with merely finishing or doing well, she had to get attention and attempt to prove wrong all those alleged rumors about her poor physical condition. All you have to do is look at her to see how she’s aged in the last 3 years. You can’t be that ugly on the inside without it being reflected in your appearance.
Will we be able to prove without a doubt that she cheated in the marathon, too? Maybe not but then again, you never know what may appear in someone’s home video-camera or digital images shot by bystanders. Are you sure you got away with it, Sarah?
October 17, 2011 at 9:22 pm
I’ve always felt that the ‘proof’ of this scam is the fact that other than the one time that Gretawire showed the photo, this amazing feat of Sarah was never mentioned by the scanner herself. She is too egotistical NOT to mention such an awesome physical feat unless she knew she was caught. Thanks for keeping on this.
October 17, 2011 at 9:51 pm
Does anyone know what the finish time was for the third place runner? In order to place at a Half Marathon, there either needs to be a small field of runners ( greatly enhancing your chances of placing) or you need to start up front and run fast. How often do second place finishers with 8 minute paces start from the back of the pack? Not likely.
October 17, 2011 at 10:46 pm
The red sweater was conveniently kept on and rolled above her number so that she could easily roll it down and hide the number when she exited somewhere along the route. When she reentered later on, Boone recognized her as she no longer had the bright red sweater on.
Just look at the pics…none other than Sarah has a sweater rolled up in front like that.
October 17, 2011 at 10:49 pm
Sarah Palin is a cheat, and so are her enablers. She and her rabid friends thought they could get by with another scam just as she did with her fake pregnancy. They are all bad for America, grifters and fakes.
October 17, 2011 at 11:52 pm
For me the smoking gun is the lack of usual Palin headline grabbing attention on the story. My feeling is that Sarah wouldn’t put so much effort into something that only got play on C4P and the anti Palin blogs. No way! She planned to glorify this story but something stopped them and forced them to actually downplay the story from then on. Maybe it was the immediate laughing dubious reaction from IM and this blog?They had a look at the posts, realised Gryphen and Ozmud had great points and that they had overlooked some of the most simple give aways. So, they told Greta to not mention it on her show, told all their media contacts to give it no coverage etc. Sarah was probably fuming with rage that Todd and others had screwed it up for her….all their fault blah blah. But we know Sarah and we know she would never put this much effort into something unless she was hoping to get a great big narcissistic ego trip. She saw all the headlines floating past her head, the groveling palin bot comments on how wonderful and fit and sexy she is at 47…if there is a next time the plan will be flawless and we will have our work cut out for us…
October 17, 2011 at 11:52 pm
Great job OzMud pulling this whole thing together.
I never could understand why Sarah just didn’t run the real 5K race, get the photo and publicity that she was “running in Iowa”, and be done with it. However, given Palin’s emaciated and rather sickly appearance in Iowa in the days before the race and her apparent lack of training, she probably wasn’t even able to complete a 5k race. Given also that Sarah lies as easily as she breathes, why run a real race when you can fake one?
Palin allegedly ran the half marathon in one hour and 46 minutes. The third place finisher among the 40 to 49 year old women, and the legitimate 2d place finisher in her age category, ran the race in one hour and 52 minutes.
October 18, 2011 at 12:28 am
I agree with you Tan. My immediate reaction when I first saw the Greta photo was that it was a very poorly photoshopped picture. In fact I thought the whole thing was a joke until I realised that Greta had it up on her blog! I was really gobsmacked that they had the nerve to post it. Even Palin fans were conceding on Greta’s blog that it looked fake and did not help Palin in any way. I think at this stage they decided to let it drop and we never heard another word about it from the Palin clan.
October 18, 2011 at 12:39 am
How, when you are walking, much less running, does a “rolled up” jumper stay rolled up?? Sleeves, which are small and often stretchy, barely do.
I think the best comment here is about the #’s for the half marathon being low and the 5k being in the 400’s. Would be so nice if someone from the club would confirm that. Or if there is just a list of participants perhaps.
October 18, 2011 at 1:00 am
This possible hoax has more people who must have known and seen something in the race than babygate. Who knows after over 3 years how babygate will pan out? I’m waiting for that Fred book that Gryphen mentions. Otherwise it is fruitless to speculate.
About this run? I see a very good reason to keep speculating.
People,,many people were there, not like the Baby hoax which we know is a hoax but can’t get proof other than pictorial, and perhaps Oz Mudlats will get to the bottom of it.
I hope so. She certainly is tenatious, and if anyone can get to the bottom of this, she can.
We know nothing that this woman does is humble or without self interest.
She hasn’t run a full race before, why would she now. She always had an excuse.
October 18, 2011 at 1:02 am
Hi Ozmud! I’m so glad you are keeping this fire hot under $arah’s arse, since the fire in her belly is extinguished (or is it?). I think she will say and/or do anything to keep her name in the press, as long as the grifted dollar$$$ continue to pour in from her dim-witted minions. I agree with you that this incident has been downplayed, since she has been called out for cheating. The same thing has happened since she gave that screech in Seoul recently; nary a peep in the press. It appears that $arah shot off her trap about the U.S. on foreign soil and possibly felt some official heat over her words. She has received too many free passes for her perpetual lying and stupidity; it’s time for this idiot to face the music! By the way, I love that moniker you hung on her – “the one with the divine sneakers” ! Keep the fire red-hot under her arse!
October 18, 2011 at 1:16 am
LOL. I think you will get under her skin if nothing else.
I just read a new theory and one I believe that Vincent Van Gogh did not commit suicide. Two teen aged boys used to taunt him and he took away the gun that shot him at one point. It is theorized that Vincent did not want to call out his killers, and that his life was so miserable that they had done him a favor. He was shot at a distance and angle that was impossible for him to do to himself.
And so it goes. Eventually the truth
Shame on them.
October 18, 2011 at 1:27 am
It’s all very annoying that Brad S., whom some look to as an expert, insisted on three different sites including this one, that the Greta photo was real and that we should move on. Then he reconsidered and said the photo was ‘staged’. Either way he was wrong, yet I haven’t seen him admit to being wrong anywhere. He teaches journalism so perhaps he issued am admission of error but buried it at some obscure site. Isn’t that what newspapers do? Hide their corrections.
This hoax is provable. The problem is that we’re all so far removed from Storm Lake. I’m gonna be in Rapid City, SD in late Jan. early Feb. but unfortunately Rap City is at the farthest western side of SD, so a long haul from Iowa (which is an SD border state).
The Iowans that I’ve known or met wouldn’t want to be a part of this farce, would be insulted by its association to them. An organized presentation to the Des Moines newspaper, done in person, might just lift the veil. I don’t think any Iowans are complicit, just taken in after the fact.
October 18, 2011 at 1:48 am
I love, love, love your very in-depth look at the insufferable liar. I look forward to the next post about the not to bright cheater. Keep up the good work!
October 18, 2011 at 2:08 am
Sorry if this has already been covered. I recall that SP wrote her actual name on her bib. Is it possible to see if she did that prior to the beginning of the race? Was her name scribbled on her bib at the finish line? If ‘Sarah Palin’ isn’t written on the bib at the beginjning and is at the end she’s got a problem.
@lily lily–Right. This hoax can be uncovered if for no other reason than Iowa is not Wasilla. The layers of protection and fear don’t exist in Iowa. Truth and beauty may actually have value there.
October 18, 2011 at 2:10 am
Forgot. Thanks, Oz for keeping this alive. Proof is accessible I think.
October 18, 2011 at 2:48 am
Something I didn’t notice before but someone must have–in the Greta photo part of the lower right red sleeve is obscured by the bib. That’s impossible. That photo so full of bullshit it’s a wonder anyone would consider it real.
October 18, 2011 at 2:50 am
Perhaps after hearing rumors the race organizers quietly inquired and discovered information from other runners like what led to the disqualification of Rob Sloan in his British Race. Maybe they privately questioned Sarah, were skeptical and then told her they would not make an issue if she never mentioned the race or their running club again. That’s why she never talked about it again.
I think there’s merit to the idea she rolled up the red sweatshirt so the number showed at the beginning of the race, then rolled it down over the number so she could hop out of the race and people wouldn’t see her wearing a race number. She took it off and handed it to Todd before she jumped back in somewhere close enough to the finish that Todd could walk up or walk across and meet her. Final observation, from the pics of the finish, no other marathoners or half marathoners are wearing long pants like Sarah. I feel certain the race club reviewed the pics and know she’s not in any in the middle of the race, that along with her “wrong” attire told them what really happened, but they’re not going to out her if she never mentions their race or their club again. Other people had to have seen her, they’re just too polite or too credulous to say anything. We won. We know the truth, and she knows we know the truth, that’s what matters. Good work.
October 18, 2011 at 3:02 am
@mocha—Sorry, but it’s not enough, not nearly.
October 18, 2011 at 3:43 am
There was enough of something that Sarah not only couldn’t use the race as a “Yay me!” moment, she’s never mentioned it again, even as one more thing the haterz wrecked for her. So that to me is winning! 😉 But I still think the running club figured it out and told her to zip it or they’d out her.
October 18, 2011 at 3:52 am
@mocha– I, and I think we, want her publicly humiliated and exposed as the fraud she is.
October 18, 2011 at 4:24 am
It’s not enough to go public with an accusation of Palin cheating nor can we prove that she didn’t complete the entire marathon but her silence speaks volumes. The immediate suspicions of her cheating that were voiced here and on a couple other blogs stopped her from claiming this publicly as a victory. Sarah was caught immediately in her latest hoax and she knows it. If she could prove she ran the entire marathon, she’d be using it in her speeches and complaining about the bloggers who allegedly lie about her. Sarah is definitely not getting the recognition she’s been hoping for, whether it’s the marathon, her announcement she wasn’t running, her speech in S. Korea and in VA. A year ago, she would have been on all the news channels for days with a feature about her in every segment. Now, it’s crickets and for an attention whore like Palin, that’s a clear signal she’s worn out her welcome. To put it simply, nobody cares about her except for the pitiful number of people, only 275, who signed up on Facebook to draft her for a Presidential run. You’re irrelevant, Sarah!
October 18, 2011 at 4:33 am
IM is dissing the commentators on Babygate.
At least he isn’t turned his big guns on speculation about the Half Marathon and a incognito runner from Wasilla.
Anyone think of a snappy gate name for this Storm Lake probable fiasco?
Runners Gate? Nah too simple.
October 18, 2011 at 4:36 am
Wow 275 cult followers want to draft her as the leader of the Free World.
How have the mighty fallen.
October 18, 2011 at 5:16 am
If Palin say ran the 1st 2 miles at 9 min pace because of the slow start, she would have to avg. 7:50 for the remaining 11 which puts her past what the avg runner can complete. You would have to basically never stop (the clothes change would have occured extremly fast) and stopping at the water stations would have been ever so brief. And finally like every one has stated you would be sprinting across that finish line in heavy breath and sweat.
Lastly most races now use chip time (tied to your shoe) to calculate your total race time. Not sure how it was calculated for this race since at the start not everyone is obviously crossing the start line at the same time. In addition, with chip time you usually have at least one other measurement at the 1/2 point.
October 18, 2011 at 5:38 am
LilyLily–
Racegate.
October 18, 2011 at 5:47 am
I wish people with a deep interest and commitment to running marathons would come in and help out. Take a look at what Oz has put out here and comment.
Read about a 100 year old Sikh who just ran a Marathon in Toronto? in about 8-9 hours. Came in last, but he made it. I skimmed through the article so the exact figures didn’t register. Made it into the Guinness Book of world records. Started running at 89 years of age. Now that is a commitment runner and he wasn’t faking .
Thanks for the input Tom.
October 18, 2011 at 6:02 am
I agree with the commenters here who say that Sarah’s silence speaks louder than words re: her participation in the race. When the Gretawire did not go viral in the way she hoped — to dispell observations of her poor health –and instead brought up more questions about her truthfulness — she had the story quashed.
Poor Greta! She knows the truth but either cannot – Sarah’s protection by Ailes – or will not — girl crush on Sarah? — stop promoting the lies that make up Sarah’s “image.”
Searching for the real Sarah Palin is like trying to find the pot of gold at the rainbow’s end: it doesn’t exist! Sarah Palin is a myth, a kalaidoscope of sparkling do-dahs, in ever changing patterns designed to fit her narrative. I think the American people see through Sarah’s charade now, and that’s why she has suddenly dropped from relevance in the media.
I don’t think for a minute that she will go quietly into obscurity. She will do something else to get that minute or two of fame and fortune and the more desperate she is to hang on, the more desperate the measures she will take to remain in the news.
Keep on it bloggers! I guarantee she’ll be back after she “reloads” with more outrageous stunts.
October 18, 2011 at 6:44 am
“Lastly most races now use chip time (tied to your shoe) to calculate your total race time.”
And verify you passed the checkpoints. I think the absence of chip verification and field judges along the course is the reason Palin picked this particular race for her antics.
October 18, 2011 at 6:47 am
I agree that the response from the running club spokesman is so ambiguous that it only serves to make things appear more fishy. And still no one has come forward to say they saw her in the second half of the race–cruising along at 8 minute miles, stopping at a water station–nothing. Just the barely breathing, water splashed on shoulders, finish photo.
Unless someone comes forward, this will get nowhere, despite all the terrific analysis by ozmud and everyone else. I so wish we could nail her on this.
October 18, 2011 at 7:04 am
This one Palingate may never get to the level of a proven hypothesis, but for me this has been on the level of frothy fun with Oz doing most of the heavy lifting.
thanks Oz. I’ve been easing out of over three years of trying to get the media to investigate ANYTHING, just anything that is fishy about Palin. But they won’t, and when writers do they trash them.
It is a light hearted way for me to exit out of Palinland.
I’ll be waiting for some heavy hitter who knows the ins and out of this sport to weigh in.
October 18, 2011 at 8:11 am
I don’t think it will get anywhere either at the moment. Look at how McGinniss is being treated by the media.
However, this will come back to bite her skinny ass.
I just left this comment at the Storm Lake FB site.
“I have studied this race closely. Palin put up a photo of the start of the race that was obviously photoshopped. People were missing limbs and men had unattributed ponytails. She started with the 5K walkers and yet ran an amazing time for a 47 year old woman who also removed her sweater and sweatband while running. Did your relay competitor also start at the wrong place? C’mon Storm Lake RC…the woman cheated.”
October 18, 2011 at 8:16 am
Unfortunately, it’s pretty easy to cheat in a race. Most 5k ,10K and even half marathons are locally run affairs, which rely on the honor system. It’s hard to imagine that anyone would cheat given that the prize is usually a ribbon or plastic medal. Indeed, this race at Storm Lake was better documented than most, with numerous official photographs of the event.
Having run in many 5k and 10k races, I would find it difficult to determine whether another runner in the same race did or did not cheat. Runners quickly spread out along the route depending on their speed. Many times, especially in longer races, you can be running with only one or two people around, or even no one else in sight. It would be very easy to step off the course, get into a car, and then drive over near the finish line and wait for a gap in the runners to rejoin the race.
In the Storm Lake half marathon, no other runners finished close in time to Sarah, which means that no one was running with her near the end of the race, either in front of her or behind her. Thus, she had the opportunity to jump in towards the end without any witnesses, although that’s not proof that she did.
Her relaxed appearance on crossing the finish line and her odd sweat patterns are more persuasive evidence of Palin’s not having just run a half marathon.
October 18, 2011 at 8:19 am
I’m just wondering,,,if we all pile in on the FB site…will they be forced to respond?
October 18, 2011 at 8:45 am
LOL. An honor system?
T’is a real belly laugh. Palin and honor? She has none, never did.
She got a metal out of it and her little running gag over at Greta’s faux news spot.
Eventually the truth will out.
October 18, 2011 at 8:46 am
A medal, was it metal or plastic with a pretty ribbon. Second place, I’m sure it is very meaningful.
October 18, 2011 at 9:20 am
@ everyone – thanks so much for weighing in. There’s still the last summary page to be completed and then I’d really like to be able to put most of the summary into a .pdf file with a cover sheet explaining the lot – and have it posted on the side so anyone can download it.
I actually do have an ‘in’ with a group of professional marathon runners and a small US based television news station but I’ve been reluctant to approach either until there is a final, succinct draft to present so I don’t look quite like the flake that it feels like I look like when talking about Sarah Palin to professionals – and I’m guessing pretty much all of you know that feeling…
And I’ve wanted to be sure I’ve not overlooked anything any of you may have picked up on so I think unlike the frustrations encountered with babygate, in losing witnesses and evidence over time – I think taking our time on this (I dub thee RaceGate) may work to our advantage in the long run.
So I remain cautiously optimistic – and – am still working on a final presentation.
October 18, 2011 at 9:22 am
Someone above mentioned Bristol’s approach to weight loss, which I think is key…generally children who grow up with athletic, active parents learn athletic, active habits. Bristol clearly doesn’t have a clue as to how to exercise and be healthy — I think that tells us a lot.
October 18, 2011 at 9:27 am
@JamesM – I followed your lead and located the name of the runner who claims to have run neck and neck with Sarah for half the race. However – I’m not sure what you thought I could learn via google? I still cannot work out the runner numbers and without those I can’t identify this runner in any of the photos of the day. If you have a way of matching the SLRC runners with their bib numbers or linking this particular runner with Sarah personally, please enlighten me – thanks 🙂
To everyone else reading this – if you also discover this runners real name please don’t post it into comments. I want to leave the door open for communication. Thanks 🙂
October 18, 2011 at 9:41 am
While looking at the original photo after Tom mentioned some oddity of the way the bib may have obscured part of the arm fabric, I realized that she seems to have a rectangular bump on her right forearm. Walkie talkie sized, perhaps? Don’t know if this has come up before.
Unless there is an Australian usage that differs from the American, you are referring to a median strip separating the groups of runners, not the line of longitude known as the meridian.
October 18, 2011 at 9:50 am
Ozmud– Did you happen to see my post about SP writing her name on her bib and whether or not the scribbled name was their at the start, finish or both? I can’t tell from enlarging the photo. I’m sure I remember that she wrote her married name on the bib in cursive and if it’s not there at the start well b ut is at the finish line, well…
Anybody?
October 18, 2011 at 9:54 am
@FerryFey—I see what you mean about a rectangular object possibly attached somehow to her forearm. A cell phone, Blackberry even? That is odd. She’d need to contact TP per plan.
October 18, 2011 at 9:56 am
I have never seen a list with bib numbers and runners names. Has anyone else?
October 18, 2011 at 9:59 am
Tee hee. This, probably more than anything else, shows the family ethos at work. Stakes? Not at all high. Why try to pull off such a stunt? Foolish but predictable dismissal of the intelligence of others, that’s why. And Sarah Barracuda shown for the fraud she is, and has always been. Todd comes off as the arrogant but basically dumbshit and over-his-head enabler he is. “Well, you can take the boy out of Wasilla, but you can’t take Wasilla out of the boy”. Or something to that effect. Remember — she ‘won’ the state bb championship for her team. I just finished ‘The Rogue’ — even I couldn’t have imagined the small-minded and genuinely stupid nastiness of this duo. folie a’ deux.
October 18, 2011 at 9:59 am
@Ferry Fey – heh I was actually using a California term with which I grew up – always the land in the middle of a roadway was called a meridian or island. If that’s wrong – well that’s what I grew up with, what can i say…
But thanks for that – I’ll change the word to avoid confusion. I’ve also had to switch from using the word jumper to shirt so the majority of readers will know to which item of clothing I am referring.
October 18, 2011 at 10:08 am
@Tom – somewhere in the beginning posts there is a comment about Sarah having written her name on her bib at the end so people after the race would know who she was – but I have no idea what ‘at the end’ means exactly. While she was off having coffee with Todd before re-entering the race or in the chute area with the other runners?
But… would she not have had to remove her shirt to write her name to prevent it from being upside-down? Or did she stand in the chute and remove all four pins and then write her name and then re-pin the bib to her shirt? And did she write it on the tear away portion or just under the number?
BTW I get sidetracked easy – never hesitate to thump me on the head when you need to get my attention 🙂
October 18, 2011 at 10:29 am
Awesome job, Ozmud!
As for the question, why didn’t Palin just run the 5K, I think there are three answers: 1) she is so totally pathological, why not go for the spectacular splash, 2) it was easier to cheat at the 1/2 marathon, given the course lay-out and the small number of runners doing the longer race, and 3) running even 5K at a <10 minute pace is not easy for a middle-aged woman.
As for the fraud itself, I have a friend who is about Palin's age, who most people would consider a real jock: she regularly bikes 50+ miles, and runs 6-8 miles. She just ran a half-marathon, and was VERY pleased with her time: 10:15-min miles.
October 18, 2011 at 11:41 am
isnt it ironic she place herself 2nd?
October 18, 2011 at 12:35 pm
Oz–I have this feeling I saw a photo with her name scribbled on the lower part of the bib. I looked at the post race photos and couldn’t see a signature. I’m sure it was mentioned and I think I saw it in a photo. The ‘when’ it got there is important. Yeah, and the bib would have had to be taken off because the sig I saw was legible. See what I mean?
October 18, 2011 at 1:22 pm
Ozmud, regarding the question of where Todd Palin was at the beginning of the race, I think he is standing in shadow near the base of the left-most light standard in your copy of the proof picture over which you superimposed “5k side” and “half marathon side” (IMG_2369/15 of 447).
He’s standing next to something that looks like a sign or a box, red and white in color. You can see a faint white area on his shoulder, which is plain to see in the posed picture at race end.
And I think Sarah Palin is in one of the vehicles nearby — perhaps the white vehicle that the person (in dark pants and white cardigan over dark top) behind Todd is leaning on.
That corner to the left of the light standard is the corner I think is seen in Todd’s picture of Sarah. I think he moved from where he is standing back along the grass strip seen at the extreme left of the “5k side/half marathon side” photo (say, next to the person in the yellow top).
As for the placement of curbs, medians, and direction of the beginning of the race, I found the venue on Google Earth — see my labeled screen grab here: http://bit.ly/oQdKmS (I had to re-orient the N/S/E/W direction slightly in order to include the lakeshore route called Sunrise Park Road) I’ve marked the aforementioned positions of Todd, Sarah, and the slowpoke runners and walkers.
October 18, 2011 at 2:06 pm
A thing to notice between cheaters. The UK runner/cheater was at least smart enough to make his hair look sweaty. The Bimbo Bomber – not so much.
Thanks Oz!
October 18, 2011 at 3:03 pm
@Karen J– I think you’re right. That is TP. In front of him in the same photo you can see the manhole cover with concrete around it that’s in the Greta photo.
There’s definitely something attached to SP’s right forearm in the Greta photo. You can see the edges just like the March 26 photo where she had something wrapped around her midsection to look pregnant–as if.
These Palins have more moves than ExLax.
October 18, 2011 at 4:00 pm
In the photo of Sarah checking her watch at the finish line, there is what appears to be a runner in dark shorts just appearing on the far left. Not the guy in red – farther back. Looks like a bib – can you make out the number? Evidently this person came in right after Sarah. Wonder what he/she saw?
October 18, 2011 at 4:12 pm
could it be a doppleganger then she just trades places in toward the end. Someone could also try to contact the persons finishing 3rd and 4th and steer them towards this site and the conversation. Maybe, they will be aroused to complain to the committee for an investigation. Almost lastly, in the end pics Palin is wearing a watch on her left wrist, but in the pic where she’s going around everyone it looks as though her right wrist may have a watch or something on it, although just as big which is being covered by the red shirt being pulled down completely over it. Lastly, why wear a sweatband underneath the sun visor? It does cover up her ears. I wonder if she had a bluetooth device underneath it.
(I download the beginning pic from the photo site (just disable java on your browser when you get to the pic you want, then you can ”right click” or just ”save the page the as” when you get to the pic you want and look in the ”file folder” named the same as the saved page for the largest sized jpeg and that’ll be the pic you want 😉 )
October 18, 2011 at 4:26 pm
if anyone has gotten the large sized photos can they upload to a flicker account or something and post a link so the rest of us can check them, too. Thank you.
October 18, 2011 at 5:55 pm
In the same image with the boxy thing on her fore-arm, she’s got something poking up from her right bra strap.
Dang, do you think Sarah’s gestating again? Little fetal terrariums?
October 18, 2011 at 8:50 pm
@Karen J – Brilliant placement thanks so much! I’d fiddled with google earth but didn’t even get close to your orientation…
====
I seriously doubt there’s a double involved here – this feels more like one of those hair-brained schemes Todd and Sarah have been thinking up and pulling on people for years. I’m all for the blackberry strapped to her forearm – that bulge has always done my head in – and the bluetooth under the headband was something I mentioned in one of the summary pages (and felt like an idiot saying it out loud too – rofl)
====
the timing at the end of the race – there’s almost a minute between Sarah and the runner behind her – and more than that between Sarah and the runner in front of her – plenty of time for her to have slipped back in unnoticed by either.
And don’t forget – the runners were concentrating on their run – not actively looking for things to be out of place or people cheating – so much of what Sarah always does depends on other people NOT being as sneaky as she or Todd and that’s precisely how she gets away with so many of these small-time cons.
October 19, 2011 at 12:14 am
Sarah Palin has a track record all right. For hoaxing and pathological lies..
Why would this be any different?
She has manipulated and scammed all her life, and the runners world is only another one to manipulate.
October 19, 2011 at 12:31 am
Okay…first let me say I’m sorry for doubting this story in the beginning. As I’ve followed along and examined your evidence I have to believe that you’ve been onto something from the get go.
She cheated…plain and simple. Great reporting and you should be proud of the efforts you’ve made to get to the bottom of this when naysayers like me told you to move on to “more important” matters.
This is very important.
October 19, 2011 at 12:36 am
I have read that the 99% are now using Sarah Palin on their signs to indicate the 1% politicial greedy guts bought and used by the 1%. Murdoch for example.
Sarah Palin has evidently amassed 40 million since she guit the governorship of Alaska, when she claimed she wasn’t going to milk her position. So much for someone who insisted on being called a governor when she was a former half time governor.
So Race Gate has its place in history now.
The 99% movement that started to bring notice to the people (Thanks in part to Wisconsin and the bought by Koch politics there) occupy Wall Street seems to be genuine, not the tea party nonsense that ended up gumming up progress in Congress and gridlocking recovery.
Sarah Paliln has a lot to answer for.
And the bloggers and the 99% will hold her feet to the fire since the media won’t.
October 19, 2011 at 12:39 am
Thanks Karen J for pinning down the location so well. This means the walkers and runners started the race towards the end of the first median on Sunrise Road. This is where the Greta pic was taken (spliced).
The official pic from SLRC with Palin and beard dude guy was taken from the end of the second median. If you look at pic no 25 (image 2479) you can clearly see the 5K and the half-marathon runners coming together, so the two groups obviously started at the same time.
My question is why aren’t the half-marathon crowd visible in the Greta pic?
October 19, 2011 at 12:51 am
I now noticed that the race number is pinned differently in the one photo of Sarah Palin alone holding her red ribboned medal. In the red coverup it it straight, in the victory photo, (her watered chest has dried) it is lopsided.
It is a photo I didn’t see before, which goes to show you.
Look, look, look again and little details pop out.
And I thought I was a very observant woman.
But it took three years for the museum picture of O’Palin blasting through the museum door with her coat flying open to show a flat belly when she was supposed to be over 7 months gone.. As a contrast to the Gusty empathy balloon belly shot a few weeks later. An impossible progression unless someone pumped her up with a lot of helium.
Anything and everything having to do with this woman is suspect to me.
October 19, 2011 at 12:57 am
I still can’t get over the photo of SP calmly strolling across the finish line. If you look at the Storm Lake running club facebook page, you’ll see photos of the first and second place finishers. They are still running! Of course, they don’t look nearly as exhausted as I would after running that far (or as I do after running only 3 miles – ha!), but they are clearly exerting themselves.
But, like many commenters, what completely nails it for me is that we haven’t heard a peep from SP herself. If she had really run it, she would have had a field day with “those pajama-clad bloggers” who are just “makin’ stuff up.” She would have posted more photographs of herself or interviews with people who ran with her, just to make Jesse & Ozmud look bad. Why on earth would she pass up an opportunity like THAT? Because she can’t…
October 19, 2011 at 1:03 am
Huliq.com has an excellent take on Sarah Palin by the Eugene Oregon protesters.
She is pictured with dollar signs over her eyes. And someone said that she is featured because she is the face of all that is crazy and wrong in American right wing politics right now.
Everything she does is a stunt, and this is no different. Everything is planned and scripted.
October 19, 2011 at 2:17 am
Sarah’s cheating on the race for publicity is simply despicable. She exploited the event simply because it was in Iowa and conveniently located for her non-presidential grifter’s campaign.
You can see from the photos that the Storm Lake run was a big deal for the community. The volunteers are out manning the start and finish lines, the police have closed the roads and are there at the start of the race, the photographer is taking photos, and the runners are out hoping to finish the course with good times. Then Sarah swoops in for the scam. Sort of a metaphor for what she’s done to the country.
October 19, 2011 at 2:28 am
@Irishgirl—the halfers are on the other side of the median.
If SP was sitting in the white car as Karen J suggested she would have jumped out when the race started and run in the direction the Greta photo shows, and TP would have been standing where Karen J suggests. The car was on the 5K side which would account for her starting with them.
The photo’s a fake but she may have actually taken that route at the start. From there to the finish is anyone’s bet.
October 19, 2011 at 2:41 am
@Tom…yes I know they are on the other side but I wondered if they should be visible as well…in the distance (i’m grasping at straws). 🙂
What I find odd as well is the absence of the walkers in white sweaters in any of the other photos.
October 19, 2011 at 2:51 am
It is also possible that she used Sarah Heath instead of Sarah Palin since she couldn’t know if it would pan out. she was Sarah Palin as she indicated on her placard later and if it didn’t work incognito,either way a win win scenario.
Humble Sarah Heath,or Wonder Woman Palin.
This woman is I Media W**** as someone placarded her 14,000$ shrink wrapped bus in NYC. The public has her number.
Three years ago the humble incognito might have worked.
WE followed her trajectory and manipulative rise so we understand how her mind works, and her and Todds MO.
After all he never hesitated to kick over gas cans of his competition, or take other peoples snowmobile parts unasked to win. And he never got more than the mildest of handslaps where others would have gotten far greater penalties.
October 19, 2011 at 4:35 am
Companions of runners often meet the runner at water stops and aras like that. To fake a race, you’d have to time things perfectly and put lots of thought into it. Too many things look natural and unplanned for this to be faked. Sarah has always been a 8 minute mile runner, just like many family members.
This is fact.
October 19, 2011 at 4:36 am
Btw, you’re assuming an awful lot here.
October 19, 2011 at 4:59 am
Ah Carolyn is here.
I guess you are now considered dangerous by her fan club..
Congratulations Oz. Soon Brooklyn will be here.
October 19, 2011 at 5:03 am
Sarah was a 8 minute miler ? and perhaps Carolyn who is an expert on Sarah as a runner knows where she runs these 8 minute miles.
Wasn’t Molly the family runner?
October 19, 2011 at 5:08 am
So if you are consistently an 8 minute mile runner, you don’t need to strap that hot Blackberry on your arm, as your “companion” will know exactly how to time where you’ll be, and when. You just run, it’s their job to be there for you at the appropriate time.
October 19, 2011 at 5:13 am
I didn’t read Carolyns comments over at Malia Litmans, but I thought I saw her preaching the Palin Doctrine over there.
I tend to ignore the happy fairy tale posters.
It means Oz is onto something, and is important enough to be noticed.
October 19, 2011 at 5:24 am
Factoids. Best marathon times slow 1 minute or more per year past your mid thirties for fit runners WHO TRAIN.
Runners who remain HIGHLY FIT can expect a decrease in performance of 1/2 to 1 percent a year. At 1/2 percents that is roughly 1 minute less per year.
October 19, 2011 at 5:27 am
Ok…I found pink hairband lady with the white sweater and the orange shoelaces. She has magically recovered from her amputation at the start of the race and is sporting TWO fully functioning legs. See pics 158-164. 😉
I have also spotted two of the walkers behind Palin in the Greta pic. (Pic 105)
So at least we know that these people are real.
October 19, 2011 at 5:31 am
@ Carolyn – in order for a runner to remain an ‘8 minute miler’ there needs to be a certain devotion to the sport. One doesn’t stop running and then magically run a medal-winning half marathon several years later sans training (and in the case of 5k thru marathon running this means outdoors on open roads and tracks) just because the runner felt like jumping into a race.
There is not one scintilla of evidence that points to Sarah Palin keeping up her running training since she ran in the CC Menard Memorial 5ki-10k in 2003. For her love of a sport that supposedly keeps her sane every day there were no community runs organised by Sarah as either mayor of Wasilla or governor of Alaska. In fact, there is no record of Sarah running in either high school or college. THE ONLY RACES SARAH PUBLICLY ENTERED FROM 2005 TO 2011 HAD HER QUIT BEFORE THE HALFWAY MARK on the lame excuse that the photographers following her detracted from the event. The ONE AND ONLY time she insisted on running with the secret service detail while campaigning with McCain, she fell not too long after beginning and couldn’t continue. How convenient.
Given her age she could have run the 5k in 23 minutes back in 2003 but again – there was a second, simultaneous run that day offering the opportunity to cheat – and it was evidently thought by competitors that her ‘record run’ in the 2005 marathon was faked. It’s just that no one figured out how to prove it before either losing interest or being told to shut up.
Yes, there was plenty of time for Sarah and Todd to arrange a water stop where she would leave her red top for Todd to pick up. No one however seems to recall any such exchange happening and there simply weren’t ‘so many runners’ the volunteers wouldn’t have noticed. But ask yourself this: If you were Todd and Sarah had you fetch her jumper at the first water stop, would you then continue to carry it for the entIre remainder of the race? I would have put it in the car. After all we’re talking almost 2 hours here.
Sorry Carolyn but it’s you who does the assumjing. You assume Sarah is an 8 minute mile runner not because of any historical evidence thqat shows her to be one, but because Sarah says she is and like too many people you take her at her word only without seeking proof. I – and most of the readers here – are simply not that gullible.
Even – for the sake of argument – if she honestly won the record-breaking marathon back in 2005 – she could not have kept up the momentum without earnestly practicing on outdoor tracks – which would have created one to two hour blocks of time in her daily/weekly schedules both as governor of Alaska, VP candidate, author and star of a reality TV show.
No such blocks of time exist. Not on official government schedules, not during filming of her TV show, not during her bus tour and not in any of the recent filming about her life in hours and hours and hours of filming neighbours, friends, co-workers – nobody ever talks about seeing Sarah out there running. Nobody.
On 04 September 2011 Sarah took a silver medal that did not belong to her. She is a liar, a fraud and a cheat who blatantly took advantage of her association with the Storm Lake Running Club, counted on their naivety and played them like a piano.
Of course the easiest way to prove me wrong is to get her onto an outdoor track this weekend and have an entire 106 minutes filmed. If you could arrange that for us Carolyn that would be great 🙂
October 19, 2011 at 6:06 am
#28, Lillylily: Mr Singh did NOT come in last – there were five people who came in behind him 😉
October 19, 2011 at 6:38 am
Mr. Singh gives me hope for my old age.
LOL. Now it is chair yoga and water exercise. I wouldn’t even walk a full or half marathon, but a neighbor walks at a brisk pace about 6 miles every day. She is 50 and actually fit. I’de put a bet on her before Sarah Palin.
October 19, 2011 at 6:38 am
Well, OzMud: You are DEFINITELY doing a GREAT JOB! Thanks for all the sleuthing, and thanks for keeping the heat on $arah! (We need to remember that she will try to come from nowhere and claim she had been there all along – just like with this race. She will try to jump in with the presidential race – maybe as a Teabagger, maybe as an Independent – remember, she took the ‘Republican’ off her FB site and put in instead ‘Conservative’ – she does not do ANYthing w/o a purpose…
October 19, 2011 at 8:01 am
I went back and re-read her Runners World interview.
She says her mother would win or at least get a ribbon in the big races and she would just try to keep up.
Keeps talking about pain. But she does use Ketamine gel if some people are to be taken seriously on the net. Of course she will win if she raced against Obama. Given his long legs I somehow doubt it. At a foot shorter she doesn’t have his stride.
She mentions sweating like a pig. HUH. We saw it in Iowa when she was walking through the fair grounds, (walking not running) Wet greasy hair, sweaty face. But nothing like that in Storm Lake. Except for the strange water pattern dumped over the top of her grey T.
She also talked about NOT having a good running time.
She talks and talks about running, and uses an eliptical trainer, but hates a treadmill. So how did she train?
Glamour shots with full makeup. and draped in the flag. She claims no one sees her running because minus makeup, no one recognises her. She does talk about the occasional moose she meets in her dailyl workouts on trails. Of course the moose isn’t talking.
It is worth a re read. Pictured with Trig and that specially borrowed running whatever it is. They had to borrow one because she doesn’t really have one. So much for that bit of fabrication.
The one time she runs with the secret service she falls and bruises her hand. So much for her running with observers.
I could say I was a runner if I wanted to, and dress the part, but that doesn’t make me a 8 minute miler.
October 19, 2011 at 3:51 pm
I googled the names of the runners before her and after her and on at least one, Lasota, she runs all the time and you can see her ‘scores/times’ online. She’s pretty consistent.
So for someone who doesn’t evidence any training or verifiable running record and is older than her to beat her, well…….pure B.S.
Sorry, Ozmud, if I repeat some things you said earlier, but I support you 100%!!
Too bad we can’t threaten to expose the SLRC unless they do an investigation.
In reviewing the other running sites, I notice they are very professional while SLRC is how you say, not so much.
October 19, 2011 at 4:36 pm
Ozmud: “The ONE AND ONLY time she insisted on running with the secret service detail while campaigning with McCain, she fell not too long after beginning and couldn’t continue. ”
Interesting, isn’t it? She had her hand bandaged. She couldn’t run, because she hurt her… hand? How does a cut or scraped hand, or even a broken bone in a hand, prevent her from running? (And it wasn’t broken: that bandage disappeared too fast.)
It makes me think of her getting out of playing the flute at an outdoor event- Chuck put a bandage on her hand and said she couldn’t play.
I bet the Secret Service weren’t fooled.
October 20, 2011 at 1:12 am
I didn’t watch Greta and buddy last nite but I heard Palin slipped up and used the words play gate instead of play date about her school children after school.. (only one is Piper as far as I know.) I’m sure the chit chat was boring as usual.
So the half time former governor has GATES on the brain.
Baby gate most likely, since McGinniss is talking about her wild ride etc on radio with a right wing host who actually is listening to McGinniss instead of trashing the writer of the Rogue.
Out of the news for a brief spell until she cooks up another fine mess of grits and gates.
October 20, 2011 at 2:43 am
I did watch last night and her playdate/children coming home after school & bickering comment made me go “Huh?” What children does she have coming home from school and being able to bicker and, also too, have playdates? Is that what she’s calling Willow’s activity these days? Let’s see – she advised that Trig doesn’t speak, which leaves only Piper to come home from school and bicker … assuming that Piper goest to school.
Just another fictional story to make us common folk think she’s one of us. Hope you were home making up a batch of homemade playdoh for Piper and Trig to play and create with … and had a nice after school snack of something homemade and healthy waiting for them before Ms. Piper had to start on her homework.
October 20, 2011 at 2:57 am
The more I read about running the more I wonder about her contention that she runs to keep her sanity. She has none.
The manner in which our flag was used in the Running magazines spread on her was disrespectful.
If Michelle Obama had been pictured in this way she would have been sliced, diced and served up for shocked and tut tutting party chatter by the conservative crowd who loved the cheesecake shoot.
Yet Palin screamed sexist and “sexism” when Newsweek used one of her shots on their cover.
Amazingly two faced in everything she does.
I do hope she was merely a fad, that came, peeked and vanishes as more important things come to the fore.
Hopefully Racegate will help.
She does not wear well except with her worshipping cult.
October 20, 2011 at 8:00 am
Ozmud, you are doing stellar work. Keep it up. I’d love to see this fraud exposed, even though it would be kind of anticlimactic at this time (RaceGate,not BabyGate). If she were shown to be a cheat and a fool over the SLRC event, then when BabyGate hits, it will be more believable. Thanks for what you do.
October 21, 2011 at 1:57 am
Thanks for the great analysis, you’ve really done a good job investigating this issue & stuck with it. Nice to see lots of familiar names here!
October 22, 2011 at 8:56 pm
Hey Oz, just like sloan cheated in the race, one must also say somebody cheated by photoshopping that picture of her “running.” Look at this next to the worse photoshopped (palin being first) of people hovering over a road. Like the faked photo of the only clear photo of her running, er I mean hovering off of dirt it’s lol worthy.
I have to suspend my sense of logic to believe that phony pic of granny “running.”
I’m glad you aren’t dropping this subject. That insufferable bitch is still yakking off lies about our President and how she can do better. Truth be told he’s doing wayyyy better than any stinkin repugbagger could dream of doing.
Keep up the good work.
October 23, 2011 at 4:03 pm
I’d love for this to go public. Because of my personal background this hoax is worse than the other (though the other certainly has greater magnitude). I’ve been giving Brad S. a lot of shit at other blogs and I don’t care what others think of me. He dismissal of the Greta photo pisses me ff because he carries some influence unfortunately. Why doesn’t he just own up to being wrong?
Anyway, Oz, wish there was some way I could help. I’m barely literate in the tech world and have no wish to know more. I’d love to have my boots on the ground in Storm Lake though. Never know–maybe. I may be a bit (or a lot) obnoxious from time to time at these blogs but face-to-face I manage quite well (only because I fake it most of the time–sounds like someone else but I’m thankfully not motivated by evil intentions).
Looking forward to the denouement.
October 23, 2011 at 4:06 pm
“Boots on the ground”–Australian boots, by the way–Redbacks. I sell a lot of Aussie products, Oz. Hadn’t thought to mention it before.
October 23, 2011 at 4:49 pm
@Tom – funny you should mention helping out *gRin* check your emails 🙂
October 23, 2011 at 4:51 pm
@game of life – almost forgot! thanks for the link! I’d seen a few of these online in news articles but never all in one place and so many! Great link – thanks again 🙂
October 24, 2011 at 2:33 am
Oz, check your email.
October 24, 2011 at 5:01 am
Okay, I know people have been saying this over and over, and pardon me for being repetitious. It’s that WALKING across the finish line.
I have a coworker who runs, and I struck up a conversation with her about it the other day. She began running on a treadmill for fitness, about a year before her first marathon. After she worked her way up to a couple of miles, one of her fitness buddies suggested training for a marathon. After some hesitation, she committed herself to it, and trained by running both indoors and out. She’s run a couple of marathons and last month did a half-marathon, and is planning to compete in another half-marathon in December. FWIW, we SAW her physically change during this period- she lost weight noticeably.
I asked her about walking across the finish line, and she said that you NEVER do that. “You finish strong!” she told me. “You suck it up and push for it! When I was finishing that first marathon one of my friends who was running with me said, “Your family’s here- smile! Be strong!” I couldn’t stop grinning! I was so proud I’d finished the run!” As for walking across with hair and makeup perfect? Never happen.
I also asked my son about it. He ran cross-country in high school; they had a huge cross-country program and he used to run about eight miles after school every day. Do you walk across the finish line? I asked. Does anyone?
“You leave it all on the route behind you,” he wrote me. “You don’t carry anything across the finish line.”
Incidentally, running coworker is surprised about a non-chipped half marathon. They’re pretty rare, she told me. Most require chipping to prevent cheating. Sarah’s didn’t, though, which leads me to believe that this race was chosen specifically to enable her to cheat. And that kind of leads to a lot of further questions: who researched the route? Who figured out that disappearing and reappearing from the route was even possible? Who found a race that didn’t require chipping?
October 24, 2011 at 5:47 am
In spite of all the research and internet investigation and talk about Babygate, she continues to drag out Trig and her choice to keep him in her current talks for her fundi audience.
Palin isn’t bragging about coming in second in a half marathon in Storm Lake Iowa. other than that Cutesy bit by Greta van Susterans about “She is running.”
October 24, 2011 at 10:09 am
Annamaria Elsden is the SLRC woman who said she was running side by side with SP and moved ahead of her just before the relay handoff, so somwhere at less than 6.55 mi. The Elsden/Foster team finished at 1:40.59 or about 101 minutes. SP’s time was 1:46.10 or about 106 minutes.
So if Elsden moved ahead of SP at nearly the halfway point (which is what a runner nearing the end of a leg would do–move faster, unlike SP crawling across the finish line) how fast did her teammate, Foster, have to run to make up nearly five minutes? Much faster is the answer. Somebody mess with the math. My brain’s squashed.
This info was provided by Elsden on her Facebook wall about 30 hours after the race.
October 24, 2011 at 11:34 am
Meant to ask, what took Annamaria so long to post that info on her Facebook page? She also said that as she was moving away from SP to the relay handoff point SP said to her, “Good job.” Did Annamaria know all along it was SP or did she realize it later? If she knew it all along surely she’d have mentiioned it before the bruhaha began with blogs like Oz’s. WTF?
October 24, 2011 at 12:46 pm
Should have added that I’m sorry if the above has already been posted. Oz had given me the woman’s name and I did a little search on her to see if there was any SP connection. The little bit that I learned is that Annamaria is an Eng. Lit. professor at Buena Vista Univ. in Storm Lake. She did her undergraduate work at BVU and earned a doctorate at Tufts in Boston, a very fine university. She’s published and as I mentioned to OZ, appears to be more liberal than not given some of her associations and the subject material of at least one of her books (10th Century women travel literature, Harriet Beecher Stowe among others).
If she did cover for the SLRC and SP by way of that, it may be that she wanted to take the negative spotlight off of her hometown club.
Or she’s telling the truth, which is what I’d prefer to think, and SP somehow managed the fake after the halfway point. The thing is that Annamaria is an experienced long distance runner. She competes. So 8 minute miles for her likely is the norm. As OZ as indicated, there’s never any mention of SP being a workout freak by anyone except SP and the Wasilla guys back in ’96 that Joe cites in his book. Hell, I coulda run a half marathon in ’96.
No way she ran that race in that time.
October 24, 2011 at 12:48 pm
19th Century, I meant. Wasn’t much getting published anywhere in that Dark Age.
October 24, 2011 at 3:42 pm
Annamaria Elsden can run 8 minute miles. She ran the half marathon at Storm Lake 2010. Her time was 1:46.24 or an 8:07 mile.
http://athlinks.com/result/139248/188929/80262422/80451157
Lori Foster, her relay partner who ran the second leg, is faster. She can run 7.5 minute miles over 6.55 miles. I’m not gonna link it but trust me. I looked it up. Never mind I’ll link it. Here’s her time in a 10 mile race on Sept. 25, 2011– 7:18 minute miles. Here:
http://athlinks.com/result/177224/251463/10951696/103742522
So that relay team could’ve made up the 5 minutes I mentioned above because of Lori’s speed. Not the info I wanted but there it is.
October 26, 2011 at 12:57 am
I always assumed it was the second half that is questionable.
Everything about her is half-assed. It is her MO. Get the money or job or credits and have someone else do the work. Pose for the photo ops and let someone else sweat it.
I hear she wore blue suede shoes in Tupelo. Was a big hit with Elvis fans. Did a lot of talking about Trig and I assume Palin invoked God, she always does with her fundi crowd.
October 26, 2011 at 6:18 am
I sent this Facebook message to Annamaria Elsden. Maybe she’ll respond but I doubt it.
“I’m curious, Annamaria. When you ran side by side with Sarah Palin was she still wearing the red overshirt or had she taken it off so that she was in the grey T-shirt? Yes, I’m a person that doubts anything Sarah says. It’s unfortunate but has evolved to that. I live in Alaska and we’ve learned to question her veracity. I don’t doubt that you ran near her for the first half of the race and if it wasn’t for the fake photo posted on Gretawire of her at the start, I wouldn’t have this question. She’s quit or withdrawn from races in the past so there is some history.
So which was it, Annamaria, the red shirt or the grey T?
BTW, I admire your education and profession. I have a B.A. in English Literature and wanted to go on. Got sidetracked but I’m still a voracious reader. I’m catching up with Jane Smiley and A.M. Homes lately. Like the women writers, Patchett, Tyler and others. Tartt was interesting at first. I’ve often thought that my degree qualifies me to live in the 16th Century. lol. Hope you don’t mind the intrusion. Regards.”
..
October 27, 2011 at 4:49 am
Googled up Sarah Palin Cheating on Running, and got 25,600,000 results in 0.42 seconds.
Three entries with Oz. One with Immoral Minority.
That means someone is googling this.
October 27, 2011 at 4:51 am
Sorry “Sarah Palin cheating as a runner.”
I wonder who is following this on Oz, as a possibility.
October 27, 2011 at 5:20 am
NY Times had an interesting article on how tempting it is to cheat. Quite a few do and justify it to themselves. In their minds they aren’t doing anything wrong to take unscrupulous means to an end. An untold number of runners escape detection, marathon official said. The numbers of cheats is shocking said the race director in NYC Mary Wittenberg.
Sarah Palin is quite an adept at Magical Thinking.
October 27, 2011 at 8:52 am
Oz, glad you’re keeping this topic alive. Thank you, lilly lily, for that link. Sure wish I could contact that Kelly fellow and ask him about Sarah’s suspicious time.
“The New York Road Runners…It falls on Tom Kelley, the marathon’s director for race scoring, and several other staff members to comb through race data and catch those who have cheated. He has been the marathon’s hall monitor for years, so he knows how to find stories of transgressions in the streams of timing data.,,”
Tom (post 104), how about you let the SLRC know you’ll be contacting this Kelley fellow for his opinion on how the race may have been ”thrown” since the SLRC’s officials lack the resolve to look into the matter, eh? 😉
This post ( http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2074834/posts ) references a 2005 marathon that Palin ran in 4 hours. The newsletter for that organization is, here, ( http://www.anchoragerunningclub.org/documents/FinishLineVol17No4.pdf ).
Am I right to think it is not possible that if in 2005, at age 41, she ran about a 9 1/2 minute mile that six years later, in 2011, at age 47, she ran an 8 1/2 minute mile? At her age range isn’t endurance retarding? Especially if she hasn’t run any other races and is/has not been training?
Question: Did she cheat in the Humpy’s Classic Marathon – Anchorage, AK USA
August 21, 2005 ??
Ironically, her overall placement in the Humpy’s was #63
( http://www.marathonguide.com/results/search.cfm )
Sorry, Oz, I know you already went over some of this quite a few posts back.
October 28, 2011 at 9:17 am
Thanks for the link, lilly lily. Great article and very pertinent to our discussion here. I had no idea there was such rampant cheating!
No wonder the Palins selected a small, remote, under-the-radar, unmonitored race for their “Governor Sarah Palin is running!” hoax.
I’m still astonished that Joe McGinniss, Phil Munger, and Brad Scharlott all asserted that SP “ran” that half-marathon (in stroll-across-the-finish-line, medal-winning time, to boot!). Clearly, runners do cheat and it’s a persistent problem for race organizers.
I wish the SLRC would investigate this. Perhaps they’ll do so once OzMud completes her magnum opus and sends them a copy.
October 8, 2015 at 11:02 pm
btw – no such luck with getting the attention of the SLRC. I am remiss in hot having written this earlier but just after submitting my effort, I fell and broke my arm and shoulder and a big chunk fo my life suddenly changed…
February 11, 2014 at 6:36 pm
A few years ago, one of our local residents, Mac Vorce, who is also
a bicycle enthusiast petitioned for the development of bicycle paths and
trails. Unfortunately Nora Ephron recently
passed away, but she left us with some of our most endearing romantic comedies of all time — from “When Harry Met Sally” to “Sleepless in Seattle” and “You’ve got Mail. Brad Garret is a stand-up comedian but also well known for his acting career.
October 8, 2015 at 8:54 pm
Hello! Stumbled across this thread as I was googling Sarah Palin’s 5k time. You see, I despise the woman and hate that she ran a sub 4 hour marathon when my own first attempt in 2011 was a moderate paced 4:25 (at least I beat Oprah, lol) so my next goal is to beat Sarah Palin. I have been working hard for the last year to get faster at running and got my 5k time down to 25 minutes so I wondered what Sarah Palin’s 5k time was to gage how I am doing. I saw her time was 23:50 (right!) and then I saw some posts that she possibly was faking all this and it started to make sense. Why is she only doing small town races that don’t have timing chips and tons of photographers every few miles huh? She says she does it for “personal” reasons yet she goes to Runners’ World and brags about her marathon? She says she doesn’t want to cause a big fuss yet many high profile celebs successfully run the NYC and Boston marathons with no issues.
I say, we petition Sarah to run NYC marathon! (I personally would love to run a single race just she and I.) I have ran several half marathons (PR 1:59:59) 5ks, 10ks and my body looks MUCH more fit than this woman who supposedly smokes my time, it doesn’t make sense. I know that you can’t always judge a book by its cover when it comes to racing but I would bet anything she is faking all this. I want her to go DOWN!
October 8, 2015 at 10:58 pm
Hi Candy and welcome to our personal Hell – lol
Trying to prove Sarah faked all her races is a frustrating venture and one many of us have worked hard to prove – only to always run into that brick wall of silence from those who know she faked it all – and it hurts!
However, just like those who doggedly pursue her pregnancy lie, we don’t give up. We are always on the lookout for a new angle to chase, a new witness to chime in, and new evidence that can’t be waved off with a smile and a bribe. we are always watching and waiting for that one moment when someone who ‘knows’ realizes the harm their silence has caused and steps into the light.
No amount of signatures on petition will ever get Sarah to run in a formal race like the NYC Marathon. Because she IS a fake. And she knows shes a fake. And she knows she won’t be able to fake a well publicized, well monitored race. So we wait. And if you think of something in your pursuit of racing that might take us in a better direction – we’ll help in any way we can 🙂
October 10, 2015 at 2:47 am
Haha, ugh, ignorance really is bliss, I hate her more than ever! I hope that some day she is exposed and trust me, if I find any new information, you will be the first to know! Stay strong, lol!