Boyfriend fakes running a full marathon, sends his girlfriend a photo with a medal, and keeps lying about it to her and her parents

• 
  via Viktor Gladkov

  Man taking a selfie while wearing medals in a stadium.

  ^{Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.}

• The logistics of this lie alone are staggering. He collected a medal. He sent a photo. He told her parents it was too crowded to spot them at the finish line they were standing at while he was forty minutes away at a charity office. This was not an impulsive fib that slipped out. This was a production with props, blocking, and supporting cast members who had no idea they were in it.

• My boyfriend 24m lied to me 23f about running a marathon

  Overall-Jello7056

  Im not entirely sure if I am overreacting about this, but a few weeks ago my boyfriend 'allegedly' completed a full marathon in a very impressive time (sub 4). Since we met six months ago we have discussed this regularly, I have watched him train, helped him fundraise and supported him emotionally up until the big day. On the day off, I was unable to watch him in person due to reasons out of my control, so instead I asked him for his bib number so I would be able to track online and my parents went to support him in person.

• On the day, I logged on to track him to see how he was getting on about an hour into the race, only to discover that his name had not been registered. Initially I thought that this was because he was potentially registered under the name of the charity he was running for and instead I decided to track him via his find my iPhone. As he went through I continued to send screenshots to my parents of his location so they would know roughly when to expect him. I continued to check every half an hour and eventually noticed that about 2/3 of the way into the route he had stopped at the hq of the charity he was running for, his location remained there for 45 minutes, he then sent me a photo of him with a medal, claiming he had just completed the marathon.

• 
  via Viktor Gladkov

  Man sitting in stadium seats, smiling and relaxing after an event.

  ^{Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.}

• I called my parents to say he had finished and asked them if they had seen him cross the finish line, where they were standing and they said no. At the same time, I messaged boyfriend to ask if he had seen them and he claimed it had been so busy that he hadn't noticed and to just tell my mum and dad to go home. At this stage I started to wonder if potentially he had pulled out of marathon half way through and didn't want to talk about it just yet.

• After some further investigation, I now know that he did not run the full marathon, instead he ran with a five person relay group, who each did a 5th of the route. I have not confronted him about this yet, but I have been really distressed by how blatant of a lie this is, he continues to claim that he completed the full 26.2 miles and I keep thinking back to how he lied to my parents and friends faces, most of whom donated towards him "running a marathon". This isn't the first time he has lied to me, typically they have been small white lies about insignificant things but this feels huge.

• Its been weeks and I still haven't yet brought up the fact that I know that he lied, mainly because I know he will likely just double down. I can't help but wonder if he is lying about this, what else could be going on. I feel utterly betrayed and I don't know how to deal with this situation. Is it worth continuing a relationship with someone who can clearly lie so easily?

• 
  via Viktor Gladkov

  Man taking a selfie while holding medals in a stadium.

  ^{Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.}

• What makes the whole thing genuinely baffling is that dropping out of a marathon is not even embarrassing. People pull out of races all the time. Bodies give out, injuries happen, training does not always translate to race day, and everyone understands this because running 26.2 miles is an objectively unreasonable thing to ask of a human body. Saying you ran a relay leg instead of the full thing is also completely fine. Relay teams exist. People enjoy them. Nobody loses respect for a person who did a fifth of a marathon with four friends.

• He chose door number three though, which was an elaborate lie sustained over multiple weeks, told to a girlfriend who was actively tracking his GPS, to parents who were physically present, and to donors who gave money specifically because he said he was running the full race. The fundraising element is where it tips from personal embarrassment management into something considerably more uncomfortable.

• She has not confronted him yet because she already knows he will double down, which tells you everything about where this relationship is sitting right now. Six months in, and she is already doing the mental math on what else might not be true, which is a calculation nobody should be running this early. The marathon was always going to be hard. It turns out the relationship is the longer race, and it is not looking like a sub-four finish.

Tags