LONDON - A marathon runner was stripped of his third place medal after
catching a bus to complete the last six miles of the race held in northern
England last Sunday.

Organisers of the event said Rob Sloan, 31, withdrew 20 miles into the race,
caught a spectator bus, then completed the final section of the course and
crossed the finish line in third place with a personal-best time.

"He's the only runner in the whole of the race who ran the second half of the
race quicker than the first half," Kielder Marathon event director Steve Cram,
an Olympic medal-winning former runner, told BBC television on Wednesday.

"He either turned into an Olympic athlete over the last eight miles ... or he
used some other method to get to the finish line," Cram said.

Sloan had originally dismissed as "laughable" the allegation that he had
cheated, but later admitted to skipping part of the circuit in Northumberland
when organisers began an investigation into claims he hitched a ride.

"This was rightly questioned by several witnesses including the third place
finisher who has been awarded his prize," added the organisers.