Two men were disqualified from the Two Oceans Half Marathon for illegal race substitutions, leading to controversy and disciplinary actions, while the rightful top-10 finishers were initially overlooked. Picture: Ian Landsberg/Independent Media
Image: Ian Landsberg/Independent Media
Two men carried out illegal race substitutions at the Two Oceans Half Marathon on Sunday, as they both went on to finish in the top 10.
Substitutions can be made, but only through an official process which ends over a month before the race.
On his running blog The Running Mann, Stuart Mann - who is also on the Two Oceans Marathon board - made the discovery on Tuesday evening.
He alleges that Luke Jacobs ran the race in Larissa Parekh’s race number. Jacobs would go on to finish seventh in the women’s race.
The other runner was running with Tegan Garvey’s number as he went on to finish in 10th place. The name of the runner who used Garvey’s number has not been discovered yet.
Screenshots revealed that Parekh finished seventh in a time of 1:23:06 and Garvey was three places behind in 1:24:27, but later the results had removed both names from the list.
However, it meant that the runners who finished 11th and 12th, Alexa Townsend and Karin-Mari Dotze, should have both finished in the top 10.
Since the results took some time to be corrected, Dotze - who is not a professional runner - said she was not included in the prize-giving ceremony.
Both men who ran the race illegally will face disciplinary action.
Jacobs told Mann on his blog: “Hi Stuart, I did not plan on participating this year. While supporting on Saturday, I was given an unused entry by an international runner for the following day. I made an error in judgement and did not consider the consequences. I should not have taken part, and I sincerely apologise for any impact on the event and fellow participants. Regards.”
Meanwhile, Garvey apologised for giving her entry to a friend but chose not to reveal his name.