The ultramarathon runner Joasia Zakrzewski has been banned for 12 months by British Athletics for using a car in competition. Joasia Zakrzewski received a medal and trophy for finishing third in the Ultras Manchester – Liverpool 50 mile race on April 7. Tracking information later showed she drove about 2.5 miles before continuing the race.
Joasia Zakrzewski claims she told officials she used a car and completed the race “in an uncompetitive manner”.
“The claimant had collected the trophy at the end of the race, something she should not have done if he was finishing the race on a non-competitive basis”, said an independent disciplinary panel. “She also didn’t want to return the trophy the week after the race. Even if she suffered from brain fog on the day of the race, she had a week after the race to realize her actions and return the trophy, which she didn’t. She finally posted about the race on social media and it didn’t reveal that she completed the race on a non-competitive basis”, adds the panel.
Joasia Zakrzewski, a 47-year-old GP from Dumfries in Scotland, now lives near Sydney in Australia.
In February, at the Taipei Ultramarathon in Taiwan, she won the 48-hour race outright – setting a world record at the time over a distance of 255 miles (411.5 km).
Competing for Great Britain in the 100km World Championships, she won individual silver in 2011 and bronze in 2014 and 2015.
She also represented Team Scotland in the marathon at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
In 2020, aged 44, she won a 24-hour race in Australia covering a distance of 236.561 km.
She has set a number of records including the Scottish 24 hour record, the British 200k and the Scottish 100 mile record.
