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An influencer ran a half marathon without registering. People were not happy.
An influencer posted about her completion of the NYCRUNS Brooklyn Half Marathon on Sunday, sharing that she ran a 7:43 mile pace – despite the fact that she didn’t train, she didn’t have any friends rooting for her and she drank two glasses of wine before going to bed at 10 p.m. the night before. Alexa Curtis’ accomplishment was not met with many congratulations – because she also admitted she didn’t register for the race.
In a post on social media, Curtis, who runs a blog and podcast focused on lifestyle and mental health for teens, shared her race experience, saying she “cried during a lot of it” and comparing the tough race to challenges in life.
What was meant to be an inspirational post was seen as “bragging” by some social media users, who were angry Curtis didn’t pay to enter the race.
The NYCRUNS half marathon registration fee is $125 and many runners also use these races as an opportunity to raise money for charity. The April 28 half marathon also had a charity partner, Tucks Travels, which helps families access travel and book family trips.
Those who don’t pay to enter races, like Curtis, are often referred to as “bandits.”
“You are a bandit and you stole from this race and this community,” one person replied on social media. “these things are expensive and for charity. shame on you.”
“Do you always humble brag about stealing from charity?” another commented.
Another person wrote that there are “zero excuses” for banditing. “It is an indication of a lack of racing ethics and a lack of integrity as well as fraud on the part of the person who does so,” the social media user wrote.
Some commenters were supportive, with some sending their congratulations to Curtis while also urging her not to bandit races.
Curtis’ post gained widespread attention and prompted her to share several apology posts. “Hi everyone. I did not realize I would offend so many people,” she wrote on social media Monday. “The post was meant to be inspirational and I had no intention to take anything from anyone or the race: I was running for myself for my mental health. In the future I’ll be sure to look up the rules if I decide to run again.”
In a second statement shared on social media on Monday, Curtis said she was sincerely sorry for any upset her “hasty actions” have caused. “I made a terrible mistake,” she said. “I thought I was engaging in something uplifting [that] would inspire others to do the same.”
She said the decision to join the race was last minute and she has decided to donate $150 to Tucks Travels, which NYCRUNS collected donations for, as well as other organizations.
CBS News has reached out to NYCRUNS and Curtis and is awaiting response.
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Sen. Mark Kelly says feds need to do a “better job” of letting Americans know “there’s a huge amount of misinformation” on election
Washington — Sen. Mark Kelly said Sunday that the federal government needs to do its part to inform Americans of the vast swath of election misinformation that’s being consumed on social media platforms like X, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram.
“It’s up to us, the people who serve in Congress and in the White House to get the information out there, that there is a tremendous amount of misinformation in this election, and it’s not going to stop on Nov. 5,” Kelly said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
Kelly, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he’s seen these misinformation operations target not only his state of Arizona, but also other battleground states.
“There is a very reasonable chance I would put it in the 20 to 30% range, that the content you are seeing, the comments you are seeing, are coming from one of those three countries: Russia, Iran, China,” Kelly said.
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In a committee hearing last month on foreign threats to the 2024 election, Kelly presented screenshots of Russian-made web pages showing fabricated headlines designed to look like Fox News and The Washington Post, targeted at voters in battleground states.
“So my constituents in Arizona and others — they seek to influence the outcome of these elections, and that is absolutely beyond the pale,” Kelly said at the Sept. 18 hearing. “We’ve got to do something about it.”
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump each have the support of 49% of Arizona voters, according to CBS News’ battleground tracker as of Sept. 30.
In another battleground state, Pennsylvania, Trump returned Saturday to hold a rally in Butler three months after an attempted assassination on him. He was joined by members of his own party and billionaire Elon Musk, who said Trump was the only way to preserve democracy and warned of a last election if he does not win in November.
Speaking to CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Kelly called the social media mogul a hypocrite.
“He’s standing next to the guy that tried to overturn the 2020 election on Jan. 6, saying that this is somehow going to be the last election and they’re going to take away your vote,” Kelly said. “And you know, it just doesn’t pass the logic test.”
At the White House press briefing on Friday, President Biden – speaking from the podium for the first time since taking office – said he’s confident of a free and fair election but alluded to the 2021 insurrection at the Capitol in his concerns on whether it will be a peaceful transfer of power.
“The things that Trump has said and the things that he said last time out when he didn’t like the outcome of the election were very dangerous,” Mr. Biden said. “If you notice, I noticed that the vice-presidential Republican candidate did not say he’d accept the outcome of the election, and they haven’t even accepted the outcome of the last election.”
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