Ultra-marathon runner banned after taking car ride to finish third

Joasia Zakrzewski competing in a 2016 race in Norway. Photo / Getty Images

An ultra-marathon runner has been banned for 12 months after getting in a car during a race before accepting a trophy for third place.

British runner Joasia Zakrzewski was handed the ban by the UK Athletics disciplinary panel after admitting to hopping in a friend’s car during the 2023 GB Ultras Manchester to Liverpool race in April.

Zakrzewski had denied deliberately cheating during the 50-mile (80.4km) race despite accepting a trophy for third. She claimed jetlag as an excuse after arriving from Australia the night before the race.

According to evidence provided by the panel, Zakrzewski had travelled around 2.5 miles (4km) in a car, the Guardian reports, in a time of one minute and 40 seconds.

“I accept my actions on the day that I did travel in a car and then later completed the run, crossing the finish line and inappropriately receiving a medal and trophy, which I did not return immediately as I should have done,” Zakrzewski wrote in a letter to the panel.

She told the plan she informed marshals that she was injured and had decided to keep going on a ‘non-competitive’ basis.

“The claimant had collected the trophy at the end of the race, something which she should have not done if she was completing the race on a non-competitive basis,” said an independent disciplinary panel.

“She also did not seek to return the trophy in the week following the race.

“Even if she was suffering from brain fog on the day of the race, she had a week following the race to realise her actions and return the trophy, which she did not do.

“Finally, she posted about the race on social media, and this did not disclose that she had completed the race on a non-competitive basis.”