Winner disqualified for taking boss’s race place

A half-marathon winner competing in his first race over the distance was disqualified after judges discovered he had run in place of his boss.

Jack Gray, 24, stepped in at the last minute after Andrew Rawlings, 49, suffered a hamstring injury last week.

He said he tried to contact the organisers but did not get a reply to his email, and had to confess after crossing the line in first place.

The announcer read out his winning time of 1 hour, six minutes and 52 seconds, but told the crowd it was Mr Rawlings who won the Cambridge Half Marathon.

Once the truth emerged that Mr Gray had run using Mr Rawlings chip and number, breaking UK athletic rules, he had to be disqualified.