Attention, the real 2015 Go! St. Louis Marathon winner is not Kendall Schler. She has been disqualified for cheating, in not only this year’s marathon, but last year’s as well. Schler didn’t travel the entire route, and was stripped of her title for both years on Wednesday.
The real 2015 St. Louis Marathon winner is declared to be Andrea Karl, a Washington University graduate student after Schler was disqualified. Officials had previously announced Schler as being this year’s winner, but there was suspicion from the start as she made her travel across the finish line without an escort from the lead bikes.
Schler Called Out As Fake St. Louis Marathon Winner
Schler had appeared to travel across the finish line a full four minutes ahead of the real 2015 St. Louis Marathon winner, Karl, who appeared with the lead cyclists, but got no reward for her success until now. Twenty minutes after the race was over, officials determined that Schler’s race bib number was fake and that her name wasn’t listed in the list of registered participants.
In addition, no photographer had any record of Schler running the marathon and no spotter in the race remembered seeing her participate. It is now believed that Schler snuck into the marathon course right after the final checkpoint. After finding learning these details about the 2015 St. Louis Marathon results, officials say they now think she also faked her third place win in the 2014 St. Louis Marathon, as no tracking data was available for that race either.
Marathon Officials Speak Out About Cheater
The official of the 2015 Go! St. Louis Marathon, President Nancy Leiberman, says that Schler told them she took her magnetic strip on her racing bib off, which is a violation of the race rules. The special magnetic strip records the time participants travel during the St. Louis Marathon, including the start, finish and five places along the course, and Schler was proven to be a cheater since she didn’t register in any of those places. Officials asked her for photos, which she couldn’t produce to prove she was a participant, therefore, they don’t think she was in the race at all.
Now, in addition to being disqualified from this year and last year’s St Louis marathons, Schler has also been informed her invitation to run the Boston marathon has been rescinded.
Officials Sorry Real Winner Wasn’t Recognized
Leiberman went on to say that she felt bad that the true 2015 St. Louis Marathon winner didn’t get her deserved recognition for winning the race. Even so, Andrea Karl will receive the $1,500 prize money and official recognition as the winner. Schler has also been banned from all future Go! St. Louis events.
