From @TheAthletic: Is posting a faster marathon time on Strava rather than your official race result considered cheating? An online watchdog group is exposing runners over discrepancies in their times, but some athletes say they've faced harassment. nyti.ms/4A1pxNQ
“I think there is a major difference between cheating and posting the Strava time... I had achieved a huge personal feat after training hard all year. I won’t let the internet take it away from me.” - Charlie Winslade, a marathon runner, who said that his official chip time was over three hours, but his watch time had brought him in just under 2:58:28.

ALT “I think there is a major difference between cheating and posting the Strava time... 
I had achieved a huge personal feat after training hard all year. I won’t let the internet take it away from me.” - Charlie Winslade, a marathon runner, who said that his official chip time was over three hours, but his watch time had brought him in just under 2:58:28.

Oct 29, 2026 · 8:19 PM UTC

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Strava says 3:05, the chip timer says 3:40. GPS has been carrying people's egos for years.
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Posting a lie online and then calling it harassment when a lot of people tell you you're wrong is wild
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Gps time is tricky. You can use that directionally but it has elements in it (signal bouncing, blockage, satellite geo etc) which can cause slightly off recording. Vs chip time assuming that race is certified most probably measured more accurately. But then if you are pragmatic and run in the inner circles around turns you are faster and if you run outer circles you are slower. Maybe better to run 5 race and take avg if you really want to say this is my number but then there are other factors can change your numbers and one bad result can break your mojo 😅
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This is why I could never get into run clubs man
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100% cheating / lying
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Lmao this is so fucking gay
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The marathon tax is real, but we all have to pay it.
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Yes, there is no argument. Chip time is the only time.
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Chip time is start line to end line - that’s the official time for me, unless you’re an elite (when gun time is used). Strava showing 2:58 means nowt.
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Yes. Yes, it is. Especially as an asshole runfluencer lying to the captive audience that thinks they ran 2.50 when they barely got 3.30.
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I don’t care what anyone says. If a lot of runners in the race all measure the race long then I’m taking my Strava time. I’m not a world record holder. PR = personal record. What if a race course is short? That too makes it more official?
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Your chip time IS your finish time. Because of the tangents i put in much more mileage than the 26.2 today but I don't get to claim the faster speed per mile as my real speed.
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Literally both your headlines for this marathon was two men proposing and now harassment. I am sure the next one is gona be about race because why talk about the actual marathon race.
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This guy is an enormous loser. Your official race time is your time. In what sport does the athlete get to decide what the result is?
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They're idiots to do it, because its always easy to look up someone's chip time in the event when their race time clearly isn't lining up with how their training went on Strava
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Why are you referring to runners and then athletes? Those are two different things.
Image from Distressed Bets (@distressedbets)
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Every one knows it’s gun to tape, chip time. No cares about what time you covered the exact 26.2 miles in.
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Its a race and if your strava is all you have then fuck you.
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Strava time is Strava time - you should post and brag about it, and anybody should take that number with two grains of salt anyhow.
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In cycling events it’s typical to spend a minute walking before you even reach start line (because of the crowd) but gun time is already ticking. If it’s the same in running then I don’t see the problem with self timing. It could be more correct.
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El GPS es una referencia, pero no es palabra de Dios.
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It’s lame to post your Strava time. It’s not accurate
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Cheating how?
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NYT thinks a man who feels cheated by chip time is a story, interviews him. But they won't write about the girls, half the school population, who are forced by the state to compete against and share their locker room with a boy. Non-issue
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Good. They are dishonest cheaters.
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Yes it's cheating
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