I am (ahem…was) a big fan of the Biggest Loser.  Last night on the show, Dane from the black team got voted off the show.  They always do this big inspirational segment at the end discussing where the contestant is now.  Last, night, they showed footage of Dane finishing a marathon in 3:57 minutes with his wife.  Here’s the clip:

Update: NBC has removed Dane’s clip showing him talking about the marathon.  I WONDER WHY.

It’s now being reported that Dane really didn’t run all 26.2 miles of the marathon, and instead ran part of it, then had an NBC van drive him to the finish line in order to shoot him crossing the line with his wife.  Dane took a medal, and then told the cameras all about the “tear in his eye” when he crossed the line.  Neither Dane nor his wife are listed as finishers for the Arizona Desert Classic Marathon, and apparently someone turned him to the race director and he was disqualified.

This is wrong to me on so many levels.  First, Dane lied.  I don’t really care if it was NBC’s idea for an inspirational story or not (which I’m sure it probably was), Dane can still say no.  No one forced Dane (and his wife) to lie to a camera saying they did something that they really did not.  Second, Dane took a finishers medal that didn’t rightfully belong to him.  Third, at least in the clip, there is no way Dane is running 8:57 miles.  It was reported on the show in a caption that Dane finished in 3:57.  It sort of looks like the clock in the clip says 5:57.  I don’t know which is true if he really did finish the marathon, but the Biggest Loser certainly touted the 3:57.  Dane made people think it’s easy to run a 3:57 marathon.

There are some comments floating around from the blogosphere from runners who were at the race saying they did see Dane run at least 13 miles.  I really can’t understand why NBC couldn’t have told the truth and said that Dane completed a half-marathon?  It’s still such an inspirational and awesome accomplishment, and they would have avoided backlash from the running community and fans of the show.  I think that it’s great to have the inspriational after-stories on the show, but only if its truthful.

After seeing this story, reading about the water loading techniques used by contestants on the show, and stories of unhealthy weight-loss by the contestants, I think I’m done watching this show.  I simply can’t support something that encourages unhealthy weight-loss, lying, and cheating anymore.

I’m holding out hope that maybe Dane really did finish all 26.2 miles, did not get in a van to drive to the finish line, and that this is just a rumor.