Kelly Agnew, 45 (pictured), was first disqualified from Across the Years, a fixed-time event in Arizona after an investigation revealed he hid in a Port-a-Potty to win races
An ultrarunner has been stripped of some of his titles after an investigation revealed he hid in a Port-a-Potty to win races.
Kelly Agnew, 45, was first disqualified from Across the Years, a fixed-time event in Arizona that takes place every new year.
The avid ultramarathon competitor was spotted ‘registering laps without running the complete loop of the course,’ according to a Facebook post Wednesday from race organizers.
Agnew has won the 48-hour race four times consecutively since his first medal for running 201.5 miles in the 48-hour limit in 2014.
Race officials say they became suspicious over his performances after he won the 48-hour race by more than 55 miles in 2015 despite the fact that he stopped running at 41 hours – seven hours before the race ended.
A special effort was made to track him at the multi-day looped course in Phoenix this year.
What they found was Agnew was not clocking in at a remote checkpoint at the halfway point of the mile-long lap.
He was instead sitting in the bathroom for seven minutes and then jumping out to cross the mat at the start/finish at the right time to keep his ‘mile pace’ consistent.
‘He was witnessed circling back at the start/finish staging area after completing a lap, spending over 7 minutes in a portable restroom and then ‘completing’ the lap and going on for his next without actually running the mile plus loop,’ organizers wrote.
Agnew, who first won the race in 2014 for running 201.5 miles in the two-day span, was asked to and asking him to turn over his racing bib.
Agnew (right) has won the 48-hour race four times consecutively since his first medal for running 201.5 miles in the 48-hour limit in 2014. Race officials say they became suspicious over his performances after he won the race by more than 55 miles in 2015 despite the fact that he stopped running at 41 hours – seven hours before the race ended
Race officials foundAgnew (pictured) was not clocking in at a remote checkpoint at the halfway point of the mile-long lap but was sitting in the Port-A-Potty for seven minutes and then jumping out to cross the mat at the start/finish at the right time to keep his ‘mile pace’ consistent
Organizers also announced that Agnew’s first places at four other races would be rescinded due to his having missed certain check-in points on the course. Agnew is banned from future races hosted by the organization (Pictured, Port-A-Potty file image)
Organizers also announced that Agnew’s first places at four other races would be rescinded due to his having missed certain check-in points on the course. Agnew is banned from future races hosted by the organization.
According to Derek Murphy of Marathon Investigation, Agnew has missed checkpoints in other races aside from Across the Years, including the Leadville 10,and his fastest known time for the White Rim trail – 17:47:25 – appeared to only be supported by spotty, inaccurate GPS evidence.
Fellow competitors at the 2017 Lemming Loop race also accused him of skipping out on checkpoints.
At least one sponsor dropped Agnew after he was busted for cheating at the Across the Years race, Murphy reported.
‘It saddens us to see this take place at an event that is centered around camaraderie amongst runners and support of top performances,’ organizers said. ‘This type of cheating is not tolerated by our race or race organization.