It is unusual for a racer to not know the rules of the race, but this ultrarunner seemed to have completely lost track of the category she was competing in. She ran and even won the third place in a running race, surprisingly she took a car ride whilst in the race. Dr. Joasia Zakrzewski, a top ultramarathon runner from Dumfries, competed in the 2023 GB Ultras Manchester to Liverpool 50-mile race on April 7, 2023. It was later discovered that the 47-year-old rode a car for approximately 2.5 miles before continuing with the race, according to BBC. Was this cheating? Let's find out. 

Zakrzewski stated that her intentions were "not malicious" and that the incident was caused by a misunderstanding. Zakrzewski, who now lives near Sydney, Australia told BBC Scotland that she got lost on the course around the halfway point when her leg began to hurt and she began to limp. The pain became so severe that when she saw a friend on the side of the course, she accepted a lift in his car to the next checkpoint to inform marshals that she was withdrawing from the race. "When I got to the checkpoint, I told them I was pulling out and that I had been in the car and they said, 'You will hate yourself if you stop'," Zakrzewski said. "I agreed to carry on in a non-competitive way. I made sure I didn't overtake the runner in front when I saw her as I didn't want to interfere with her race." When she crossed the finish line, she was given a medal and a third-place wooden trophy and posed for photos. In her defense, she said, "I made a massive error accepting the trophy and should have handed it back. I was tired and jetlagged and felt sick. I hold my hands up, I should have handed them back and not had pictures done but I was feeling unwell and spaced out and not thinking clearly."

The director of the GB Ultras race, Wayne Drinkwater stated that following the ultramarathon, he received information that a runner had gained an "unsporting, competitive advantage during a section of the event." In the account of what happened, its repercussions and disqualifying her, he said, "After the event, there was no attempt by Joasia to make us aware of what had happened and to give us an opportunity to correct the results or return the third place trophy during the course of the subsequent seven days. At the finish location, Joasia crossed the finish line timing mat, received her finisher medal and was presented with her trophy. At no point at the finish was the event team informed by Joasia that she was 'not running the race competitively.' None of our event team in question, with written statements to confirm this, was aware that Joasia had vehicle transport at any time during the race until we received information after the race from another competitor. If we had been made aware during the race, disqualification from the race would have been immediate at that point." Mel Sykes has now been awarded third place in the race.

Zakrzewski expressed regret for not informing the marshals at the end of the race that she was not competing. She stated that she was "devastated" by what had occurred and was extremely upset to see "haters" on social media calling for her to be banned for life. Zakrzewski said, "I'm an idiot and want to apologize to Mel. It wasn't malicious, it was a miscommunication. I would never purposefully cheat and this was not a target race but I don't want to make excuses. Mel didn't get the glory at the finish and I'm really sorry she didn't get that. I've given so much to the running world so I am devastated this has happened."

Zakrzewski's achievements include Taipei Ultramarathon in Taiwan setting a world record for over 255 miles. She won in 2011, 2014 and 2015 for Great Britain in the IAU World 62.13 miles (100km) Championships. She also ran the marathon for Team Scotland at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. She won a 24-hour race in Australia in 2020 at the age of 44, covering a distance of 146.99 miles (236.561 kilometers). She holds several records, including the Scottish 24-hour record, the British 200k record, and the Scottish 100-mile record, as reported by BBC.