Joasia Zakrzewski: Ultrarunner who used car says she made massive error

Joasia Zakrzewski said she is devastated by the incident

A top ultra-marathon runner who was disqualified from a race for using a car says she made a "massive error" accepting the trophy for third place.

Joasia Zakrzewski said her actions were "not malicious" and the incident was caused by miscommunication.

Dr Zakrzewski, from Dumfries, took part in the 2023 GB Ultras Manchester to Liverpool 50-mile race on 7 April.

It was later discovered she travelled by car for about 2.5 miles before continuing to complete the race.

• Ultrarunner disqualified for using a car in race

The 47-year-old GP, who now lives near Sydney in Australia, told BBC Scotland how she had become lost on the course around the half-way mark when her leg began to feel sore and she started to limp.

The pain became so bad that when she saw a friend on the side of the course and she accepted a lift in his car to the next checkpoint to tell marshals she was pulling out of 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'," Dr 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."

Joasia Zakrzewski has many sporting achievements

When she crossed the line she was given a medal and a third place wooden trophy and posed for pictures.

The runner, who had arrived from Australia the night before, 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."

Wayne Drinkwater, the director of the GB Ultras race, said after the ultramarathon he received information a runner had gained an "unsporting, competitive advantage during a section of the event".

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.

Joasia Zakrzewski came 14th in the 2014 Commonwealth marathon in Glasgow

"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 were the event team informed by Joasia that she was 'not running the race competitively'."

And he added: "None of our event team in question, with written statements to confirm this, were 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."

Third place in the race has now been awarded to Mel Sykes.

Dr Zakrzewski said: "I'm an idiot and want to apologise to Mel. It wasn't malicious, it was 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."

Joasia Zakrzewski is a Team GB runner

Dr Zakrzewski said she regretted not clarifying with the marshals at the end of the race that she was not running competitively.

She said she was "devastated" by what had happened and extremely upset to see "haters" on social media calling for her to have a lifetime ban.

"I've given so much to the running world so I am devastated this has happened," she said.

In February, at the Taipei Ultramarathon in Taiwan, Dr Zakrzewski won the 48-hour race outright - setting a world record across 255 miles (411.5 km).

Racing for Great Britain in the IAU World 100km Championships, she won individual silver in 2011 and bronze in 2014 and 2015.

She also represented Team Scotland in the marathon at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

In 2020, aged 44, she won a 24-hour event in Australia with a distance of 236.561km.

She has set a number of records including the Scottish 24-hour record, the British 200k and the Scottish 100 miles record.