Acclaimed American ultrarunner Camille Herron, who has greater than 12 ultrarunning world information to her identify, alongside together with her coach and husband, Conor Holt, have discovered themselves on the centre of a Wikipedia controversy. It stems from a number of edits to the Wikipedia pages of ultrarunners Kilian Jornet and Courtney Dauwalter, which degraded their accomplishments, whereas additionally including accolades to Herron’s personal web page. The edits have been traced again to Herron’s electronic mail and Holt’s IP handle.
The couple has been working underneath the username “Rundbowie” since February 2024, after their earlier Wikipedia account, “Temporun73,” was quickly banned for violating Wikipedia’s battle of curiosity insurance policies for the edits to Herron’s web page. Simply hours after Temporun73 was banned, a brand new account underneath the identify “Rundbowie” was created and resumed exercise, making edits to Herron’s web page and to these of different athletes.
Some of the contentious actions concerned repeatedly eradicating statements like “extensively thought to be the most effective path runners ever” from Jornet and Dauwalter’s pages, with the justification of “eradicating puffery.” Nonetheless, Herron concurrently added an identical assertion to her personal web page, describing herself as “extensively thought to be one of many biggest ultramarathon runners of all time.”
Since 2017, Herron’s two accounts have made greater than 300 contributions to pages on Wikipedia, of which greater than half are solely gildings to Herron’s web page, however there are notable deletions of optimistic content material on the pages of Dauwalter, 2018 Boston Marathon champion Des Linden and Greek ultrarunning legend Yiannis Kouros.
Along with these adjustments, in June 2024 and September 2024, Herron altered the “Ultramarathon” Wikipedia web page to take away references to Danish ultrarunner Stine Rex’s 48-hour and six-day world information. (Though Rex’s efficiency bettered Herron’s document, the ratification course of by the Worldwide Affiliation of Ultrarunners (IAU) continues to be ongoing, that means Herron’s document stays acknowledged.)
Ongoing points and bans
The accusations towards Herron and Holt didn’t come out of nowhere. For years, the Temporun73 account had been flagged by Wikipedia for making overly self-promotional edits to Herron’s web page. Wikipedia directors despatched messages insisting the account adhere to the location’s insurance policies on tone neutrality and battle of curiosity. The warning messages have been deleted by Herron’s account, referring to them as “abusive speak.”
One warning from Wikipedia directors in January 2024 learn: “Utilizing language like ‘legendary’, ‘prestigious’, and ‘steely toughness’ just isn’t the type of impartial tone that’s allowed in writing right here. Wikipedia is a factual supply of content material, not a promotional platform for athletes.”
The Rundbowie account was very energetic on Wikipedia between February and April, however was quiet throughout Herron’s 6-day world document try with Lululemon between March 6 and March 12. (It was truly absent from Wikipedia between March 2 and March 19, with the primary edits again being the elimination of “extensively thought to be one of many world’s greatest path runners” from Jornet’s and Dauwalter’s pages inside minutes of each other on March 19.)
On March 22, directors filed one other incident report, concluding that Rundbowie was certainly a continuation of the banned Temporun73 account. The e-mail handle discovered linked to Temporun73 matched a former electronic mail handle of Herron’s that she had used since 2007, whereas finding out for her grasp’s diploma at Oregon State College. A Google search of the e-mail and IP handle from the blocked account is listed underneath Holt’s identify and a telephone quantity from the Oklahoma Metropolis space.
Response
The International Group of Multi-day Marathoners (GOMU) president Trishul Cherns stated he was appalled by the scenario. “In my forty-six years of ultrarunning, I’ve by no means seen anybody as proficient as Camille, who’s so devoted to creating division and animosity throughout the ultrarunning neighborhood. Sadly, the Wikipedia story is a part of a sample of interference. This couple has a historical past of attempting to disrupt athletes, their reputations, races, and performances by citing World Athletics guidelines that don’t apply to ultrarunning and multi-day working. I used to be appalled by Camille’s criticism directed at athletes difficult “her” information and her efforts to discredit them. This unsportsmanlike behaviour is bullying and mean-spirited and has no place within the bigger ultrarunning neighborhood.”
Herron’s storied profession
Herron, 42, holds 12 ultramarathon world information and stays the one athlete to win all of the IAU World Championships distances (50K, 100K and 24 hours). In April 2022, at age 40, she grew to become the youngest lady to succeed in 100,000 lifetime working miles.
We reached out to Herron by way of electronic mail and social media for feedback, however she didn’t reply.
