Camille Herron, helped by her husband, is accused of having for years inflated the results of her Wikipedia file while falsifying the files of other great running champions in order to denigrate their performances.
Canadian Running magazine has just brought to light a case that is causing a stir in the world of ultra-distance running. A scandal which allowed Camille Herron, an American athlete, to inflate her record on Wikipedia and while deleting or minimizing on the collaborative encyclopedia the exploits achieved by certain big names in ultra-trail running such as Courtney Dauwalter or Kylian Jornet.
The 42-year-old champion and her husband Conor Holt have, for several years, tampered with the files anonymously, hiding behind different accounts. The duo first operated since 2017 under the pseudonym «Temporun73» before being pinned down by the website administrators in 2023 who proceeded with a temporary ban for violation of the rules and conflict of interest. Caught red-handed, the couple created a second account in February 2024, «Roundbowie» but their deception was still detected after a few months. According to the Canadian site, the runner with 12 ultramarathon world records and her accomplice made more than 300 modifications to various Wikipedia entries. 150 of them concerned that of Camille Herron whose performances were embellished.
300 file modifications in a few years
The tandem played on both counts. Laudatory sentences sometimes concerning very famous athletes like Kilian Jornet or Courtney Dauwalter, three-time winner of the Mont-Blanc Ultra trail and presented as “one of the best trail runners of all time” disappeared from online content. To justify these modifications, the contributing couple made a note on the site mentioning that it was about “fanfaroned”.
The two ultra-trail stars were not the only ones to be affected by these malicious acts. The Greek Yiannis Kouros and the American long-distance runner Desiree Linden, winner of the Boston marathon in 2018 and first woman to go under three hours over 50 km, suffered the same fate while at the same time, Camille Herron saw his Wikipedia record improves. An example: the 100km world champion in 2015 became, as if by a miracle, “one of the greatest ultramarathon runners in history” after a clever modification.
But at the beginning of the year, the two falsifiers were unmasked. The administrators noted that the new rampant account was only an extension of the old one, already banned. Camille Herron allegedly used an old address used during her studies at Oregon State University in 2007 to continue her falsification work. An identified IP address also made it possible to trace the couple.
The sponsor drops Camille Herron
Unmasked, Camille Herron was immediately dropped by her Canadian equipment manufacturer Lululemon at the end of September. “We are committed to maintaining fair sporting competition for all and we partner with ambassadors who embody these same values. After careful consideration and discussion, we have decided to end our ambassadorial partnership with Camille.explained the sponsor in a press release.
Her husband took full responsibility for the facts in the columns of Run Ultra. “Camille had nothing to do with any of this. I am 100% responsible and I apologize to all athletes affected by my malicious actions.”he confided, assuring that he simply wanted “protect» his wife «bullying“a you”harassment» of which she would have been a victim in the past.
“Unsportsmanlike, intimidating and petty behavior”
Justifications which did not convince the president of the world marathon organization over several days, who was very angry against the duo. He declared that he did not “never seen anyone as talented as Camille, who strives to create division and animosity within the ultramarathon community.” Before adding: “This couple has a history of trying to disrupt athletes, their reputations, their races and their performances”. Dismayed, the Canadian judged the couple’s attitude “unsportsmanlike, intimidating and mean-spirited”and now seems to want to turn the page on the undesirable Camille Herron: “This unsportsmanlike behavior is intimidating and mean-spirited and has no place in the broader ultramarathon community.”
