Influencer Faked a Bib to Sneak Into the NYC Marathon and High-Five Ariana Grande: Number Belonged to a French Banking Executive, and He Is Banned From Next Year's Race
At the New York City Marathon on November 1, a video of a runner high-fiving singer Ariana Grande near the finish line went viral on social media. On November 11, the New York Post reported exclusively that the runner, influencer Mike Clarke, had never officially registered: he made a counterfeit version of French banking executive Nicolas Bourot's No. 4207 bib, jumped into the course and ran the full 26.2 miles. The organizer, New York Road Runners, has banned him from next year's race. Dexerto followed up on November 12 with a report matching the Post's account.
Bourot is the chief security officer of Groupe BPCE, France's second-largest banking group, and a member of the 139-year-old SAM Paris 12 running club. He waited 10 years to gain entry, and his wife and friends surprised him with plane tickets and hotel stays for the trip as a 50th-birthday gift. He finished in 3:23:23, and discovered the theft when he saw photos of Clarke wearing his number in the race's official gallery. He first feared the duplicate bib might have affected his time, then confirmed his result was intact. 'It's not fair for all the runners because it's very hard to get entrance to this marathon. I waited for 10 years before I was able to. Every year I try, I try, I try,' he told the Post.
Clarke admitted in a since-deleted YouTube video that he 'wasn't officially registered.' He told the Post he picked the number because of its attachment to a friend who died, who had wanted to run all the world majors and hoped to do New York in 2028, and said he had no idea it belonged to Bourot. He also wrote: 'After race, I received a medal but gave it to a kid afterwards haha!' He refused to apologize: 'At the end of the day they can call it unfair or cheating the system but for me it was to push my limits while running for this goal and have fun while doing it.'
New York Road Runners told the Post it banned Clarke from next year's race after receiving multiple reports of his counterfeit bib. A spokesperson said: 'When individuals fraudulently enter our events, they jeopardize everyone's safety. These acts are egregious and are antithetical to supporting the sport of running and its community.' The Post also noted the organizers have not assigned 'bandit catchers,' the crew that once intercepted unregistered runners, in years, relying instead on security at the start.
Grande interacted with runners along the course throughout this year's marathon. GSM previously reported on the encouragement cards she hand-wrote for strangers; this time, the runner who high-fived her turned out to be an unregistered entrant on a fake bib.
Related: Ariana Grande现身纽约市马拉松沿线：为陌生跑者手写鼓励卡 抽中卡片的跑者正听着她的歌完赛
Source: New York Post
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 资料图：2024年纽约市马拉松男子精英组领先跑者（图源：Wikimedia Commons，Nrbelex摄，CC BY-SA 4.0） | File photo: Elite men's leaders at the 2024 New York City Marathon (Source: Wikimedia Commons, photo by Nrbelex, CC BY-SA 4.0)
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