Scottish ultra-marathon runner disqualified for using car in third place finish, blames 'miscommunication'

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Ultra-marathon runner Joasia Zakrzewski has been disqualified from a race earlier this month where she placed third in after officials discovered she had hitched a ride in a car for a portion of the race.

The 47-year-old Scottish runner completed the 2023 GB Ultras Manchester to Liverpool 50-mile race on April 7 when race officials discovered, after handing Zakrzewski a third place trophy, that she had traveled 2.5 miles by car, the BBC reported. 

Joasia Zakrzewski from Scotland competes in the first ever The Arctic Triple - Lofoten Ultra-Trail on June 4, 2016 in Svolvaer, Norway. (Kai-Otto Melau/Getty Images)

Data showed that Zakrzewski traveled a mile of the race in just 1:40. 

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She told the outlet on Wednesday that the entire situation was a "miscommunication." 

Zakrzewski explained that she began to feel pain in her leg when she accepted a ride from a friend. She intended to tell race officials at the next checkpoint that she was withdrawing but said when she reached them, she decided to "carry on in a non-competitive way." 

But when Zakrzewski crossed the finish line, she accepted the third place medal without a word. 

"I made a massive error accepting the trophy and should have handed it back," she told the outlet. "I was tired and jetlagged and felt sick." 

"I hold my hands up, I should have handed them back and not had pictures done but I was feeling unwell and spaced out and not thinking clearly."

Joasia Zakrzewski from Scotland competes in the first ever The Arctic Triple - Lofoten Ultra-Trail on June 4, 2016 in Svolvaer, Norway.  (Kai-Otto Melau/Getty Images)

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But race director Wayne Drinkwater disputed this saying, Zakrzewski made "no attempt" to rectify the situation days after the race. 

"At the finish location, Joasia crossed the finish line timing mat, received her finisher medal and was presented with her trophy. At no point at the finish were the event team informed by Joasia that she was 'not running the race competitively.’"

And he added: "None of our event team in question, with written statements to confirm this, were aware that Joasia had vehicle transport at any time during the race until we received information after the race from another competitor." 

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A new third place winner was named. 

"It wasn't malicious," Zakrzewski told the BBC. "It was miscommunication."

It is unclear if the decorated runner will face any further discipline.