Posted on 03/03/2009 11:13:29 AM PST by longtermmemmory
UPDATED to include Dane Patterson's apology.
A followup to my Thursday story about the fabricated account of "Biggest Loser" eliminee Dane Patterson running a marathon, when in fact he only ran 23 miles: The producers of "The Biggest Loser" are taking full responsibility for the misrepresentation.
Here's the apology put out late Thursday night by Reveille, the company behind "TBL":
"As the Executive Producers of 'The Biggest Loser' we would like to make an official apology and set the record straight with regards to the claim in last night's episode that Dane completed a marathon in Arizona.
"After seeing on various online blogs that this information may be inaccurate we investigated the claim and found that Dane had not indeed completed the marathon unaided. From our internal investigation we learned that Dane ran the first 17 miles before receiving a ride from the field producer for 3 miles before rejoining the race at the 20 mile mark whereupon he completed the race.
"We are incredibly proud of Dane for running 23 miles and losing over 130 lbs on his weight loss journey so far and wish him luck as he continues his new healthy lifestyle. We have also taken the necessary action to ensure that there is no future misrepresentations and sincerely apologize for misleading our loyal viewers and it was certainly not our intent but an unwitting mistake.
"We hope they will continue to be inspired and motivated by all of our contestants and follow them as they continue to change their lives."
Update 6:18 pm: This from Dane Patterson. He actually did finish the race, in a manner:
(end excerpt)
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.kansascity.com ...
The contestant then made all sorts of excuses for not doing the full run.
A full marathon is 26.2 miles and can be walked or run as long as you finish within the alloted time. Finishers generally recieve some form of finisher's medal. NBC was caught in part because the posted a fake finish time of 3:53 which is supposedly a very good time for a marathon runner.
NBC is the same network responsible for the legendary faking of exploding pickup truck gas tanks.
Keep in mind, NBC producers COULD have shown the man finishing period; with or without the fancy finish line flags. (or even just asked them to leave it up)
This is the age of Obama fakery. First it was styrofoam columns and now it is non-finishers recieving finishing medals.
I wish I could run 23 miles.
At least he didn’t burst into flames when colliding with something...
There’s no shame in not finishing a marathon.
There’s plenty of shame in faking it.
My hubbie is a runner, this will piss him off when I tell him about it.
If FOX had done this, we’d never hear the end of it.
Prepare for this story to sink like a stone in the MSM.
It’s freakin’ TV for Pete’s sake... and a stupid “reality” show to boot! Who really cares?
I ran one in 2005. It took me a little over 5 hours but I finished it myself. Doing a half marathon this year.
I expect everything on the boob tube to be fake, exaggerated, or unrealistic.
I’m sure all of the posters in this thread who criticize Dane are physical specimens themselves, able to run 26 miles without breaking a sweat.
He didn't complete the race. He may, indeed, have run across the finish line under his own power but HE DIDN'T GET THERE UNDER HIS OWN POWER.
HE DIDN'T COMPLETE THE RACE.
Not accepted.
Until the MSM is willing to truly apologize for turning the White House into the "Kremlin of DC"....then I'll listen.
Yeah, I know...not holding my breath.
Or, they could clarify that the biggest loser was not, in fact, a contestant at all, but rather, the biggest loser was anyone dumb enough to have casted a ballot for Nopama in the first place.
I watched one in 2005. Is that the same thing?
I see a lot of folks criticising NBC ... for lying.
The Reprise of Rosie Ruiz!
For me, 23 miles is a marathon!!
What a strange story. Even if the contestant quit at 17 miles, that’s still a really huge accomplishment- especially after having lost 130 pounds.
So why didn’t they just focus on that positive aspect of the story instead of faking it??
17 miles, drive 3 miles, 6 miles.
Then some time later you run/walk another 3.2 miles, “whenever”.
Just wait. It’s still early in the thread.
It was a SOCIALIST marathon where everybody deserves to finish.
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