Wife of Foursquare CEO fakes Boston Marathon bib

[IIOY]

From Mashable:

Controversy enveloped this year's Boston Marathon — the first since last year's deadly bomb attack — when it was discovered that some runners had participated while wearing fake bibs.

Wearing a fake bib to run in a race others paid for, trained for, and had to run faster than a given time to enter in the first place might be difficult to explain at the best of times. But it's even harder to justify in a race with extreme symbolic and emotional resonance a grieving city and nation. (For the uninitiated, a bib is what you receive when you register for a race; it's basically your ticket.)

We now know the identity and motivation of at least one of this year's Boston frauds: Chelsa Crowley, wife of Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley, who says they faked her number because they "felt like we needed to run again and finish together to get closure" after failing to finish together last year.

The fakery was uncovered after Kathy Brown, the rightful owner of bib 34033, looked for pictures of herself on the marathon's official photo site. She spotted Chelsa Crowley, who had written her Twitter handle — @chelsa — on her bib of the same number.

Responding to a Boston news report about marathon officials probing the fake bibs, Crowley left a comment explaining the couple's rationale on Friday morning. Here's the full text of Crowley's post, which Foursquare PR confirmed is real and declined to comment on further:

Hey all -

Dennis Crowley (Chelsa's husband) here chiming in on this. First of all, our apologies to anyone we offended. After running together last year, getting split up and not finishing together (Chelsa finished, I did not), we both felt like we needed to run again and finish together to get closure. I wrote a blog post about our experiences last year and my motivation to run Boston again this year: medium.com/editors-pic...

Yes, using a duplicate number to get Chelsa into the starting corral with me was wrong. I don't expect everyone to understand our strong need to run and and finish together — but after trying unsuccessfully to get a charity number and trying unsuccessfully to officially transfer a number from an injured-runner friend, we did what we could to make sure we could run together in hopes of finishing together.

I sent an email to Kathy Brown, the woman who rightfully earned #34033 to apologize for any disrespect, hurt feelings or confusion. Our intent was never to "steal" anything from anyone — our intent was to finish the Boston Marathon together as we tried to do last year. (#34033 = first 3 numbers of my number + "33" which is Chelsa's age. We chose a number close to my number to ensure we'd be next to each other at the start.)

Again, sincerest apologies to anyone we offended or disrespected, including the BAA and the police/fire/EMT crews that worked so hard to make sure Monday's race was safe for all runners.

Dennis + Chelsa

As noted by Boston Magazine before the April 21 race, there's always a "black market" for bibs in one of the world's most iconic footraces. But after last year's bombings that killed three people and injured more than 250, running with a fake bib seems the height of arrogance.

Also perhaps worth mentioning: Dennis Crowley is the CEO of a company millions of users trust with their personal location data.

After the race, Chelsa Crowley posted this photo to Instagram with the caption, "Obligatory finish line photo. Was a loooong race. #Boston"

Commenters have ripped her to shreds below the photo. To wit:

"You are a true piece of shit." — @bkn75

"A long race ran on lies and deceit. Bravo, bravo." — @endlessmuse

"This has to be the most pathetic thing I may have ever seen on Instagram. Congratulations." — @jolismasucol

Crowley wasn't the only impostor in this year's race. Another legitimate runner spotted no less than four runners wearing her bib, no. 14285. That runner, Kara Bonneau, posted their photos to her Facebook page, where they've since been re-shared more than 700 times. "They should be ashamed of themselves," Bonneau writes.

Chelsa Crowley, for her part, doesn't seem to be suffering too badly. She posted this Instagram photo on Thursday, along with the caption: "Heading to DC for Nike Women's Half Marathon and strategizing on how to even out my tan lines from #Boston."

[rugbywife]

I think it is disgusting. But really…age of entitlement, right?

[Cicero]

Given that you don't have to qualify if you are running for charity, faking a big is stupid. And other things.

[ESF]

Faking a bib because you need "closure"?

Assholes.

[Cicero]

I suppose going around and getting $2,500 worth of sponsors for a charity run is way too much effort for someone so self involved as to think faking a bib is a ok so long as you're doing it for your own personal closure.

[PinkSquirrel]

Apr 26, 2014 10:15:26 GMT -5 Cicero said:

Given that you don't have to qualify if you are running for charity, faking a big is stupid. And other things.

It's not necessarily that simple.  Each org that is granted charity runners only gets a limited number of spots.  There are more people who want to run than charity spots.  Also, and this obviously isn't an issue for the Four Square people, you have to raise a lot for those charity spots.  

I love the Boston Marathon hard, I go watch every year (except this one), I was just around the corner out of sight of the bombs last year and I can not get my heckles up for this.  The reason they started the Charity runners was because they had such an obscene number of people who did this kind of thing.  For me, it has always been a part of Boston and it's just one of the quirks of being the marathon everyone wants to run and I just can't be mad so long as you actually ran the 26.2.  As for stealing things others paid for, yeah taking a medal is douchey, but let's not pretend the state and my taxes aren't footing a decent chunk of the bill.   

[Deleted]

Does the Boston marathon give lifetime bans for bandits who get caught? I believe that's what the NYRRs do for NYC if you're caught with a fake or transferred bib.

[Deleted]

Apr 26, 2014 10:15:26 GMT -5 Cicero said:

Given that you don't have to qualify if you are running for charity, faking a big is stupid. And other things.

This.

Surely they could have afforded the $5k or whatever the magic number is it you have to raise to get a charity bib number. 

[PinkSquirrel]

Apr 26, 2014 10:37:40 GMT -5 @ameliapond said:

Does the Boston marathon give lifetime bans for bandits who get caught? I believe that's what the NYRRs do for NYC if you're caught with a fake or transferred bib.

They may, but overall my impression has always been that they tolerate bandits.  They don't love them, but they're an accepted part of the Boston Marathon

[Cicero]

Apr 26, 2014 10:33:52 GMT -5 PinkSquirrel said:

Apr 26, 2014 10:15:26 GMT -5 Cicero said:

Given that you don't have to qualify if you are running for charity, faking a big is stupid. And other things.

It's not necessarily that simple.  Each org that is granted charity runners only gets a limited number of spots.  There are more people who want to run than charity spots.  Also, and this obviously isn't an issue for the Four Square people, you have to raise a lot for those charity spots.   

H did it twice. Honestly, it isn't that difficult of a thing to do and if your company has a charity it sponsors it is even easier.

[NewOrleans]

omg, shut up with your closure, you affected assholes.

[CallingAllAngels]

Apr 26, 2014 10:43:19 GMT -5 PinkSquirrel said:

Apr 26, 2014 10:37:40 GMT -5 @ameliapond said:

Does the Boston marathon give lifetime bans for bandits who get caught? I believe that's what the NYRRs do for NYC if you're caught with a fake or transferred bib.

They may, but overall my impression has always been that they tolerate bandits.  They don't love them, but they're an accepted part of the Boston Marathon

They specifically discouraged bandits this year due to security concerns. I hope she gets banned from the race.

[Deleted]

I think this is pretty shitty. For some reason, if someone like taratru faked the bib (I'm just pulling her out as someone I know who runs marathons), I'd be less annoyed than I am at the wife of a CEO running it. And I know that "CEO" doesnt necessarily mean they are rolling in money - lots of people can be CEOs without being famous/wealthy/etc - but FourSquare is a pretty successful company.

It just really irks me. Race bandits may always happen but it does not make it less shitty in my opinion, ESPECIALLY given the circumstances this year.

[Deleted]

Apr 26, 2014 10:49:33 GMT -5 Cicero said:

Apr 26, 2014 10:33:52 GMT -5 PinkSquirrel said:

It's not necessarily that simple.  Each org that is granted charity runners only gets a limited number of spots.  There are more people who want to run than charity spots.  Also, and this obviously isn't an issue for the Four Square people, you have to raise a lot for those charity spots.   

H did it twice. Honestly, it isn't that difficult of a thing to do and if your company has a charity it sponsors it is even easier.

I think this year it was especially difficult, lots of people were trying to get the charity spots from the rumors I was hearing.

[PinkSquirrel]

Apr 26, 2014 10:49:33 GMT -5 Cicero said:

Apr 26, 2014 10:33:52 GMT -5 PinkSquirrel said:

It's not necessarily that simple.  Each org that is granted charity runners only gets a limited number of spots.  There are more people who want to run than charity spots.  Also, and this obviously isn't an issue for the Four Square people, you have to raise a lot for those charity spots.   

H did it twice. Honestly, it isn't that difficult of a thing to do and if your company has a charity it sponsors it is even easier.

I know a ton of charity runners.  This guy could 100% could have gotten a number if he applied for charity spots early, but I've now seen multiple news stories about people who did this who weren't the wives of CEOs of FourSquare.    I guess I'm more speaking to the fact that there are multiple news stories about various people doing this and the only reason people care is because of what happened last year.  

I'll also be perfectly honest.  Being down there last year changed so much about the marathon for me personally that I'm having a really hard time with something that has happened for decades now being a big bad terrible thing that warrants putting people out for public shaming.   No more changes right now, ok?  

[josieposy]

Well I'm no marathoner but I am married to one. This bugs me and I hope she gets banned.

[suzyp]

Maybe I'm an asshole, but if he had run faster last year, he could have finished with his wife.

And just because it has been "tolerated" doesn't make it right. Banditing is wrong and you are a jerk if you do it in any race, not just Boston.

[NewOrleans]

So accessing the marathon illicitly is a beloved Boston tradition? This is the argument?

[josieposy]

It also kind of pisses me off that they apologized via email. They couldn't even give her the courtesy of reaching out in a more personal manner?

[Cicero]

In 100% honesty this probably isnt something that would have bothered me before I started running. But it also not something I knew happened before I began running.

[Deleted]

Apr 26, 2014 11:12:28 GMT -5 suzyp said:

And just because it has been "tolerated" doesn't make it right. Banditing is wrong and you are a jerk if you do it in any race, not just Boston.

Right?? I'm really surprised at that argument.  the reason banditing is tolerated in races, quite simply, is because it would be almost impossible to enforce a ban and to physically prevent the runners from running.

It's also problematic in races such as Boston, NY Marathon, and others of that magnitude because the reason for the strict qualifying times, limited entries, etc is to keep the overall numbers down.  NY obviously is a bit bigger than Boston but races just cannot handle everyone running who wants to run.  The entry system (with bibs) is used to help plan for the number of runners. 

I know a lot of marathoners and serious runners.  I dont know a single one who things doing this is fine because "its always been done."  One of H's friends was going to do it for the cherry blossom 10 miler one year and he discouraged her from doing so. 

It's also shitty when people do it to avoid paying the entry fee (which is often part of the reason behind it).  I'm sure that wasnt the issue for Mrs CEO though.

[rugbywife]

Apr 26, 2014 11:13:00 GMT -5 NewOrleans said:

So accessing the marathon illicitly is a beloved Boston tradition? This is the argument?

This is what I was going to say…it's okay because people have done it before? Has this worked to get you out of a speeding ticket before? (I use that line with kids all the time).

The reality is that if you are a high(er) profile individual and you do stupid shit you are more likely to get called out…so, sucks to be you, but play by the rules.

Again, to me, his whole things sounds like entitlementitis to me…we 'had' to get closure, just HAD to, therefore we did whateverthefuckwewanted. 

[Deleted]

H's best friend ran Boston last year. He definitely wanted to run it again for "closure" this year. so he worked his butt off and ran it again, as a registered entrant, and kicked ass at it.

That would have been a better way to get closure IMO.

did mrs crowley not qualify? is that why the options were to transfer a bib number or to get a chairty number? or was her age group already full?

[NewOrleans]

Apr 26, 2014 11:14:21 GMT -5 josieposy said:

It also kind of pisses me off that they apologized via email. They couldn't even give her the courtesy of reaching out in a more personal manner?

That is because they are only sorry they got caught. 

[rugbywife]

Apr 26, 2014 11:20:10 GMT -5 @mrsbecky07 said:

H's best friend ran Boston last year. He definitely wanted to run it again for "closure" this year. so he worked his butt off and ran it again, as a registered entrant, and kicked ass at it.

That would have been a better way to get closure IMO.

did mrs crowley not qualify? is that why the options were to transfer a bib number or to get a chairty number? or was her age group already full?

I think he got in because he didn't finish, wasn't there something about how anyone who didn't finish last year could run again this year? As for her…I guess she didn't qualify. 

[PinkSquirrel]

Apr 26, 2014 11:24:08 GMT -5 rugbywife said:

Apr 26, 2014 11:20:10 GMT -5 @mrsbecky07 said:

I think he got in because he didn't finish, wasn't there something about how anyone who didn't finish last year could run again this year? As for her…I guess she didn't qualify. 

Yes, everyone who didn't finish automatically qualified

[taratru]

I kind of want to throat punch anyone who steals bib numbers from other people in a race where you have to qualify. Somehow to me (as a longtime runner) banditing open races is a little more forgivable than doing it in a race where people have to earn their spots. It's just shitty, and especially this year, I'm glad people are shaming those who did it.

Those foursquare douches need to pay that girl's entry and travel for next year.

[krisandgrace]

Apr 26, 2014 10:43:19 GMT -5 PinkSquirrel said:

Apr 26, 2014 10:37:40 GMT -5 @ameliapond said:

Does the Boston marathon give lifetime bans for bandits who get caught? I believe that's what the NYRRs do for NYC if you're caught with a fake or transferred bib.

They may, but overall my impression has always been that they tolerate bandits.  They don't love them, but they're an accepted part of the Boston Marathon

There have always been people running as bandits but I can't think of one person who thinks it is acceptable. Certainly not the ruuners I know who have worked so hard to get the chance to be there and paid to do so. I can remember going back to the 1970's as a kid people talking about how much these people suck. 

[PinkSquirrel]

This is from a Boston Globe opinion piece, so obviously maybe maybe not the best source, but if it's true that means that yes, this is the first year bandits have actually been banned from running the marathon. Now, it's making more sense, previously bandits didn't have to steal someone else's number because they were essentially allowed to run. The reasoning that the actual field was going to truly need the space once occupied by bandits makes sense and I yeah, ok the people that did it this year are all assholes.  As a general rule though, I maintain that they're a generally accepted part of the Boston Marathon

For the first time this year, the Boston Marathon is officially banning bandits. The Boston Athletic Association has forbid uncredentialed runners for years, but always looked the other way when it came to enforcement. For 2014, only runners with numbers will have access to Athletes’ Village at the starting line — an understandable precaution in the shadows of the Boylston Street bombings last year.

But security officials say the crackdown on party crashers has nothing to do with terrorism. Unnumbered runners in running clothes pose no threat — they have no place to hide weapons or explosives. The real reason for the ban is to guarantee breathing room for this year’s expanded field of 36,000 runners, an increase of 9,000 more than 2013.
www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/columns/2014/04/19/missing-from-this-years-marathon-those-lovable-bandits/XHb0yyIHECNtUBdxCCwqgO/story.html

[foundmylazybum]

Apr 26, 2014 11:17:24 GMT -5 @mrsbecky07 said:

Apr 26, 2014 11:12:28 GMT -5 suzyp said:

And just because it has been "tolerated" doesn't make it right. Banditing is wrong and you are a jerk if you do it in any race, not just Boston.

Right?? I'm really surprised at that argument.  the reason banditing is tolerated in races, quite simply, is because it would be almost impossible to enforce a ban and to physically prevent the runners from running.

It's also problematic in races such as Boston, NY Marathon, and others of that magnitude because the reason for the strict qualifying times, limited entries, etc is to keep the overall numbers down.  NY obviously is a bit bigger than Boston but races just cannot handle everyone running who wants to run.  The entry system (with bibs) is used to help plan for the number of runners. 

I know a lot of marathoners and serious runners.  I dont know a single one who things doing this is fine because "its always been done."  One of H's friends was going to do it for the cherry blossom 10 miler one year and he discouraged her from doing so. 

It's also shitty when people do it to avoid paying the entry fee (which is often part of the reason behind it).  I'm sure that wasnt the issue for Mrs CEO though.

Lol. I know lots of serious runners who bandit races all the time.