Big Loser wasn’t enough of a marathoner for NBC
St. Louis University sports info director Chuck Yahng, a devoted runner, brought this one to my attention, and I couldn’t help but get my shorts all bunched up thinking about it. The story comes from the REALITY show “Biggest Loser,” in which obese contestants try to out-lose each other.
One of the contestants, Dane Patterson, started the show weighing more than 400 pounds but lost more than 100 in eight weeks, a show record and an inspiring feat. His fellow contestants either were unimpressed or extremely intimidated because they voted him off the show.
The producers subsequently filmed a segment of Dane and his wife as they attempted to run a marathon. The final shot depicts them crossing the line with a note that they finished in 3 hours, 53 minutes.
What an inspiration! To go from 400 pounds to a sub 4-hour marathon in months!
Turns out there wasn’t much reality involved here.
Dane and his wife were in danger of missing the six-hour time limit, so producers picked them up on the course and gave them a lift, dropping them off just before the finish line. The correct time was 5 hours, 50-plus minutes for the car-assisted marathon (It’s hard to read the time on the video). The producers attributed the 3:53 in the subtitle to a typo.
Then, they went back and faked a hug scene. The couple finished at sunset. In the next shot, you see them getting congratulations and running with their sun in broad daylight.
Give me a break.
The truth of his story was inspiring enough. A 400-pounder who loses enough weight to run/walk 20-something miles and keep going for six hours would have been a fabulous story. If the producers, or whoever made this series of decisions, had tried it themselves, I suspect they’d appreciate what Dane had accomplished on his own. But the producers seemed to feel reality wasn’t good enough for reality TV.
Dane has apologized for his part in the caper, and NBC said in a statement, “The segment as aired was contrary to NBC policy.” It added that the network would talk to producers “to ensure that corrective action is taken.”
Here’s a corrective action for them: Run a marathon. Let them see how hard it is. Perhaps they’ll appreciate what Dane accomplished and not feel the need to dress it up.
Am I being too harsh? Tell me what you think of this guy, NBC, the producers.
(8 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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Absolute garbage TV. Reality producers are pathetic. It’s either reality or fiction. Take your pick. I want to get on some message board and flame the show. Oh I just did.
A really well produced show on marathoning was on PBS, Nova I’m pretty sure, which tracked people who had no experience as they received special entries to participate in the Boston Marathon. It demonstrated how hard it is to physically change your body, lose weight and prepare for a marathon. The how also included a guy with natural ability, decent average health and about 5 miles a week of running (at the most) who was able to race and finish pretty well by following a training plan and doing the work.
I intended to mention that PBS documentaryl in my original post, but got too wound up. You are correct; it was an episode of “Nova,” and the group was led by researchers and health gurus from Tufts University. They also got coaching from the overly cheery Uta Pippig, running circles around people who looked like they wanted to kill her for her exuberance in the face of their exhaustion. There was one guy who was a college athlete but had turned sedentary. I think he finished in a little over four hours, which makes the “Biggest Loser” amped-up exploits even less credible.
As I said, though, I’ll pat anyone on the back who loses 100 pounds and runs 20-ish miles. Quite an accomplishment.
I also watched and enjoyed that “Nova” documentary. One thing I found amazing (and disheartening) is that after 40 weeks of training, the participants had almost no weight loss or change in body fat percentage, measured by DEXA. Good grief.