FORT WORTH - Initial runner-up Kolin Styles was declared the winner of the 26.2-mile race when Scott Downard was disqualified because he crossed the finish line with another person's number and failed to register for the race.
Downard, a 25-year-old from Norman, Okla., crossed the finish line first more than 6 minutes faster than Styles at 2:31:40, said Heidi Swartz, the race's executive director.
He acknowledged without any prompting that the bib he was wearing belonged to a friend who couldn't make the race.
"He understood completely and said he'd come back next year," Swartz said.
I know I'm a day late here, but Scott Downard really put me in a tough spot with this. On the one hand, no one likes self-centered marathoners any less than me, constantly hogging the spotlight every weekend to boast about how they had to crabwalk to the finish line to a disinterested audience. Those smug over-achievers always bailing on their friends right before Friday night really starts to kick ass so they can wake up early and "train." Can't get any more selfish. On the other hand, I kinda like his approach. Just stroll right up, swipe some punk's number, and dominate a race that everyone else actually cared about. It's not all about ribbons and medals, kids. Sometimes you just gotta show'em what's up. Downard's the winner in my book. Serious swag.
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