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 Editorials | Opinions | October 2007 
What Made Madrazo Cut and Run?
 David Gaddis Smith - San Diego Union-Tribune
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| | Former Mexican presidential candidate Roberto Madrazo, seen here in 2006. (AFP/Alfredo Estrella) |
Former Mexican presidential candidate Roberto Madrazo, whose first-place showing in his age category in the Sept. 30 Berlin Marathon was disqualified Monday because he did not run the entire 26.2-mile course, now claims he never planned to complete it because he was suffering from exhaustion.
In a letter to Mexico's athletic community, Madrazo said he went to Berlin knowing he would not finish, having pushed himself past his limits by running in three other marathons and two half-marathons this year. One of the three races he ran this year was the San Diego Rock'n'Roll Marathon, where he had a time of 3:37.
He said he decided to push on to Berlin because he wanted to say he had run in the world's five major marathons. Madrazo, 55, had already participated in marathons in Boston, New York, Chicago and London.
Madrazo, who finished a distant third in last year's presidential race, had been named the winner of the Berlin Marathon's 55-and-above group until German officials disqualified him. The electronic race chip attached to his shoe showed he crossed the finish line with a time of 2:40:57, but officials found that chip race times at other stages along the course were not recorded.
Madrazo and his Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, have long been known for their electoral trickery. Madrazo was derailed in the 2006 presidential election partly by a slogan against him: “Do you believe Madrazo? I don't either!” (“Y tu le crees a Madrazo? Yo tampoco!”)
Madrazo's 1994 election as governor of Tabasco state was marred by fraud. His machinations after he became the PRI's national leader helped bring him the party nomination for the 2006 election, though there were plenty of PRIistas who tried to block his candidacy. Also, Tijuana gambling magnate Jorge Hank Rhon likely never would have gotten the PRI nomination for mayor of Tijuana (and won the mayoralty in 2004) had it not been for Madrazo's intervention.
In his letter this week, Madrazo wrote that because of his exhaustion in Berlin, “I had to stop at kilometer 21 and I went directly to the finish for my clothing and my participant's medal.”
He said he never claimed to be his age group's winner. But many wonder why he did not let the world and race organizers know he hadn't run the whole course right away, instead of letting speculation run rampant for more than a week.
Some also wonder why he crossed the finish line with such a show of exuberance, as recorded by a photograph, if he just planned on going there to pick up his stuff.
Chips that race participants wore were recorded by sensors every five kilometers, or about every three miles. His chip was recorded at the 5-, 10-, 15- and 20-kilometer (12 mile) marks, but not picked up again until the 35-kilometer mark, about 21 miles into the race. The 20-kilometer and 35-kilometer marks are fairly close to each other in Berlin, as the course looped back toward the finish line.
Some people also wondered why Madrazo's last split time – after he skipped about nine miles of the course – was so fast if he was so exhausted. Madrazo's last 5-kilometer split at the 40-kilometer mark was 25:42, while his first four were 25:31, 25:06, 25:27 and 26:40. He finished the race running at a similar pace.
Did Madrazo deliberately cheat, as has been claimed? He says he has raced in 36 marathons; he knows how the chip system works. He would have known that his splits or lack thereof would be recorded. The San Diego marathon uses the same ChampionChip the Berlin Marathon did. The San Diego marathon Web site says it records splits at the 10-kilometer, half-marathon and 20-mile marks.
The Berlin Marathon Web site says: “Fair sportsman-like behaviour is expected of all participants. Please keep to the marked route. The organizer will disqualify participants in the following cases: Leaving the course, missing several intermediate times, alteration of the race number.”
If nothing else, Madrazo appears to have been guilty of violating race etiquette and embarrassing himself and his country. And to say the least, his past electoral machinations certainly made many people willing to believe the worst about him.
Others still seem to have faith in him. The border newspaper Frontera reported Friday, for example, that officials with the Tijuana half-marathon are hoping Madrazo will keep a pledge to participate in their Nov. 4 race. |
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