No Record For Dykes!

Only a week ago we posted about the incredible record ran by Gene Dykes at the Jacksonville Marathon.

However, it would appear not to be so. The course it would appear although being an official course the race itself had not received the official sanctions that would have allowed the time ran by Gene to be official.

Gene himself has posted to his own Facebook:

“Never ASSUME, because when you ASSUME, you make an ASS of U and ME.”
— Jerry Belson, script writer for the Odd Couple

Before running the Jacksonville Marathon, I reached out to the race director for assurance that it was a suitable venue for setting a world record, and I received the response that “you should have a good shot at the record”. I assumed that he was correct, but I was remiss in not doing my own homework. It appears that, although the Jacksonville Marathon is certified by the USATF, the race was not sanctioned by the USATF, and both must be valid for recognition of records by USATF/IAAF.

Thank you all so much for the nice things posted about my race. I am still proud of what I’ve accomplished – it just looks like it’s not going to be “official”. That said, I still have four more years to do it right, and, who knows, that might happen sooner than you think!

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