The 52nd edition of the iconic New York City Marathon (NYCM) was held last Sunday with a record breaking 55,646 runners crossing the finish line.
It is so far the biggest marathon ever, edging this year’s Berlin Marathon with 54,175 finishers.
To put this in perspective, the number is even more than the seating capacity of the world’s largest indoor arena, the Philippine Arena, which can accommodate a maximum of 55,000 people at a time.
With that many people from all over the world running through the city’s five burroughs — Staten Island, Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan — cheered on by spectating residents, the NYCM is undeniably the biggest block party in the world.
Given its popularity, NYCM has always attracted Hollywood and international celebrities and influencers.
Among them were Ashton Kutcher who finished with a time of three hours and 53 minutes and Chelsea Clinton with a time of 3:59 in 2022. Ryan Reynolds also previously ran the race with a finish time of 3:50 while singer Alicia Keys, whose song “New York” has been one of the city’s famous anthems, finished with a time of 5:50.
This year, actress Jennifer Connelly, who’s about my age at 53, ran with an amazing finish time of 3:45.
Running the same race was the former Vice President Leni Robredo’s daughter, Tricia Robredo, who ran with a solid finish time of 4:03.
Yet, along with these impressive finishes came news of rules violation, if not downright cheating.
Social media influencer Matt Choi was disqualified and banned for life by the NYCM organizers for being assisted by e-bike riding individuals who took videos of him while he was running. Support crew and bikes are not allowed along the race course as these may endanger or block other runners trying to run their personal best.
Choi immediately accepted fault and apologized to his followers on social media.
Two local celebrities, however, may take the cake for cheating — if allegations are proven true.
Weeks before the marathon, actress Rhian Ramos and boyfriend, Partylist Rep. Sam Verzosa announced that they were busy preparing to run the NYCM.
Since many Filipinos also ran the marathon with them, many were tracking not just the Filipino runners through the official NYCM app but also these two celebrities. The tracker shows the splits for every three miles or so of the race.
The splits of Ramos and Verzosa curiously showed no entries for the 18.6, 20 and 21.7 miles of the race. This can only mean that they did not pass through these three mile markers. The next time the tracker spotted them was already at the 24.9-mile marker or just more than a mile before the finish line.
Based on the app, they both went through the finish line and, as their photos on social media show, both collected their Finishers Medal.
Verzosa, who is running as Manila mayor, even posted: “Ang saya sa pakiramdam makamit ang isang bagay na pinaghirapan mo, we are officially New York Marathon 2024 Finishers… talagang walang impossible basta trinabaho mo at binigay mo ang lahat para sa goal mo… To God be all the Glory.”
The official splits of the two celebrities are accessible to the public through the NYCM app. We are still verifying reports if there is already a complaint lodged against these two celebrities as, ordinarily, an investigation will be conducted by race organizer.
As a runner myself, this would ordinarily just be a matter of personal interest.
But, considering that the two runners involved are celebrities, with one even running for a very important public office, their honesty and integrity are matters of public interest.
We are very much open to any response from Mr. Verzosa and Ms. Ramos.