Big Daddy Gouda

BOSTON (Associated Press) - A day after studying tape from city traffic cameras and footage obtained from local news agencies, race officials have determined that a 32 -year-old computer worker from Boston did not cheat in any way, and did in fact win Monday’s Boston Marathon, finishing the 26.2 mile course in just over two hours.

Race officials were skeptical after Connecticut native Jason Maroon, a  bald, stocky, flat-footed city man, won the historic race by out sprinting world class Ethiopian distance runner Deriba Merga.

Race director Edmund Suluski said footage clearly shows Maroon take off at the starting line, weave in and out of city streets, stopping only once to sip water, before finally finishing the race in a near record time of  2 hours, 6 minutes – almost two minutes faster than Merga.

“We poured over hours and hours of footage,” Suluski said. “Not once did he stray from the course.”

Suluski said, as far as the race committee is concerned the case is closed.

“Our job is to uphold the integrity of the Boston Marathon,” he said. “We feel we’ve done that. As far as we’re concerned this Maroon guy is the winner. I don’t know how the hell he did it but a win’s a win.”

Maroon, who decided to run the race early Monday morning, attributes his shocking victory to a long dormant passion for winning, coupled with the need to release tension from everyday life.

“My plan was to start off by jogging and then maybe walk a bit here and there,” Maroon said, Tuesday. “But once I got going that runner’s high kicked in and the rest is history.”

Maroon, who is expecting a baby soon along with his wife Tina, said the stresses associated with family life combined with a poor showing in his Fantasy Baseball League, convinced him to run the marathon.

“I needed a way to clear out my head,” he said. “I figured running a marathon would do the trick.”

Merga, 28, who kept up with Maroon before losing steam on the 25th mile, said his loss to the amateur is the most shocking thing he’s ever had to endure in his 15 year racing career.

“I train for this all year,” Merga said, through an interpreter, “and then I lose to this video game playing computer nerd. I’m sick. Sick, sick, sick.”

Maroon has thus far declined interview requests as well as invitations to appear on the Today Show and Late Night With Dave Letterman, and said he will instead focus on his job and prepare for the birth of his first child.

He also sent his race winnings to family living in the country of Lebanon, where it was revealed Maroon has distant relatives there, possibly living in squalor.

“The race was fun but people are making too big a deal out of it,” he said. “Did I make history, Yes. Did I shock the world, Maybe. But at the end of the day I’m still just Jason.”

This entry was posted on April 22, 2009 at 4:19 am and is filed under Stories . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.