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Comment by rdtsc | Hacker News Reader

Why? What drives people to do it?

Is there money on the line? sponsorships for products.

It obviously wasn't just a momentary weakness it was an elaborate plan and for what to brag about it at work or on Instagram? But wouldn't she know she cheated every time she thought or talked about it. That would be hard thing to live with it seems

Edit: wonder how I'd feel if a friend or co-worker did this. I could see it creating some serious trust issues

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Beyond this post, you might be interested in another post in the blog: http://www.marathoninvestigation.com/2017/01/WhyIcheated.htm.... The blogger interviews someone he caught cheating in a pretty benign fashion about why he cheated. From that article, and my perspective on it, the answer to:

> That would be hard thing to live with it seems

Is the choice is not between

  1) My great life
  2) My greater life, with some compliments

but

  1) My life that I don't feel great about
  2) My life that I don't feel great about, with some compliments now

Where "my life" is how I'm feeling at that particular moment. I am impressed that to you this concept seems so foreign, for me I can definitely recall moments that people overstated the importance of things I've done and I've accepted the compliments because it made me feel better at times I was feeling down. This to me seems like a minor leap from what I've done.

I've run marathons in the past and my times were awful but back then I was generally a happier person. If I were to be running a marathon today and somehow the timers marked me an hour faster then I really was for example, I might not correct them.

>>somehow the timers marked me an hour faster then I really was for example, I might not correct them.

People are more likely to draw the moral line in the sand when the error in your favour goes so far as to bump a legitimate winner off the podium. Your scenario above regarding "[...] with some compliments now" seems more in line with "just a slightly better time in the middle of the pack."

I appreciate your willingness to be open and honest about how you'd handle a less egregious situation, but I doubt you'd go this far based on the relative positioning you've outlined.

I think there is a difference between momentarily having a lapse in judgement and just not saying anything. We've all made bad decisions, I certainly made plenty. There is a different of preparing and planning to cheat, like say doing the race on a bicycle to cover up the lie and generate fake data.

She's a Harvard grad.

Lots of over achievement in her short life.

Gotta keep appearances up. Gotta keep the family and friends impressed. And so on...

> Is there money on the line? sponsorships for products.

Author speculated it may have something to do with some runners club and...

>> She wrote a blog post that read like a tourism commercial for Fort Lauderdale. I have confirmed that her trip was sponsored and that at least a portion of her trip and activities were comped.

Well that might explain the motivation then. I imagine she could have made a great blog even finishing last.

The article mentions sponsorships.

Yap saw it and it says it was comped (by work?) as well. How much is that worth in that event vs living with knowing she cheated.

Living with knowing you cheated is nothing (0 effect) to some people.

It's a half-marathon, not a University entry exam

One race alone doesn't make anyone's name.

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