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Perplexed by the 5K Virtual Run Leaderboard

The last lap of 2024 became the last lie of 2024 for many, many people who cheated on their running stats

Tooth Truth Roopa Vikesh
Tony’s Junk Drawer
4 min readJan 3, 2025

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A woman in black running clothes stands with her hands raised. One hand holds a blue cap and te other is raised in a “V” sign. Behind her is an expanse of grass. she is standing on a black covered track. A person walking away from the frame is partly visible. Race stats are visible: 5.19 km in 56 minutes on the adidas Running app.
Photo by and of the author.

I ran a virtual 5K on 31 December. It took me 56 minutes to complete the distance and I was happy it was over.

I went to some trouble to run properly. I practised a 1 km distance every day on the roads outside my home, ran 3 km a few days ago when I had to go in late to work, and hoped that I would be able to finish the 5K, my longest distance ever, without incident.

I went to the local stadium, which is open to all citizens of India (we have to show our citizenship proof at the entrance, in the form of our Aadhar cards) for my run. I was accompanied by my daughter who took a few pictures while she was waiting.

A woman in black running clothes walks on a stadium track. One hand holds a blue cap and with the other, she is checking her watch. Behind her is an expanse of grass and steps of a stadium.
Photo of the author, taken by Sivakami.

What perplexed me was the Adidas leaderboard. I expected the elite runners to have run virtual rings around me; but that’s not exactly what happened.

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Tooth Truth Roopa Vikesh
Tooth Truth Roopa Vikesh

Written by Tooth Truth Roopa Vikesh

I don’t just create smiles, I inspire them! Dentist, mom—Jamshedpur, India.

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