Third place makes news

Quite possibly the most media attention ever for a third place. This guy (on the left) thought he'd finished third in the Kielder Marathon earlier this month only to be told at the finish line he was fourth to cross the line. He spoke to the third-placed runner and asked when he had passed him. When he said somewhere around the eighteen-mile mark, Steven thought there was something odd as no one had passed him then. It turned out that the other runner had caught a bus after about twenty miles and then got off again just before the finish. Despite being seen getting on and off the bus by several people and with the evidence from his race chip (which had him speeding at 30mph at one point) he tried to claim he had finished the race legitimately. Even when given a generous opportunity to confess, as the organisers blamed it on tiredness and mental confusion. Sadly he didn't take that chance and now seems to have ruined his running reputation - a shame as he is clearly a reasonable runner, having won the Kielder 10K the day before his ill-fated marathon. Anyway, this Edinburgh photoshoot is for the real third-placed runner, getting his medal from event director Steve Cram. The photocall attracted a lot of media attention, with two TV news crews and a whole pack of press photographers. So chances of my pics making the papers = nil, but still interesting.