Same Old Dodge, She’s Disqualified Again

Cathy (Candy) Dodge of Canyon Country has been stripped of her fifth-place, age-group finish in the Boston Marathon, the second time in three months she has been disqualified from a major marathon.

Boston Marathon officials announced Friday that Dodge’s finish in the women’s masters (40-and-over) division in April has been nullified because she failed to run the entire 26.2-mile distance. In July, San Francisco Marathon officials disqualified Dodge four days after the race for the same reason.

Dodge, 43, had her name removed from the Boston results after a review of race checkpoints revealed that she failed to run the entire distance, according to race Director Guy Morse. “We have no proof that she ran the entire course,” he said.

Dodge, who admitted no wrongdoing after being disqualified from the San Francisco Marathon, expressed similar sentiments Friday.

“I’m greatly disturbed at the decision, which we believe is made without basis,” she said. “I will be appealing through appropriate channels and I will have no further comment at this time.”

Dodge was credited with a time of 2 hours 53 minutes 26 seconds at Boston and was awarded $1,000 in prize money. Race officials have asked her to return the money.

Boston officials investigated Dodge after she was disqualified from the San Francisco Marathon. In that race, she was credited with a third-place finish of 2:46:18 in the women’s division.

Laura DeWald, of Grand Rapids, Mich., who was initially credited with a fifth-place finish at San Francisco, asserted that Dodge ran only the last 440 to 880 yards.