A strange scandal involving Wikipedia and a well-known ultrarunner unfolded over the weekend, leaving many in this niche sporting community scratching their heads in shock.
Acclaimed American ultrarunner Camille Herron, 42, has been accused by a Canadian running magazine of allegedly making edits to the Wikipedia pages of her competitors to downplay their accomplishments. In response to the accusation, Herron’s primary sponsor Lululemeon dropped her as an athlete.
Soon after the swift dropping, Herron’s husband, Conor Holt, then released a statement admitting to altering the biographies on Wikipedia, saying that Herron “had nothing to do with this”.
Ultrarunning is a sporting niche known for being laid back and supportive– it’s a relatively small group of people pushing the boundaries of running by going beyond the marathon distance. While it’s a growing movement, in the grand scheme of sport, the endeavour still garners quite a close-knit community.
That’s why the events that have unfolded recently, with Herron at the centre of controversy, has drawn so much commentary and surprise.
Timeline of events
The public side of this saga began on September 23, 2024, when the magazine, Canadian Running, published an investigative article by journalist Marley Dickinson, accusing Herron and Holt of making several edits to the Wikipedia pages of fellow ultrarunners Kilian Jornet and Courtney Dauwalter, downgrading their accomplishments, while also adding accolades to Herron’s own page.
In the article, Dickinson explains that he traced the edits back to Herron’s email and Holt’s IP address, saying the couple had been operating under the username “Rundbowie” since February 2024, after their previous Wikipedia account “Temporun73”, was temporarily banned for violating Wikipedia’s conflict of interest policies for the edits to Herron’s page.
Not long after the article went public, many in the ultrarunning community posted online condemning Herron and Holt’s alleged conduct.
Notably, a British YouTube site, Film My Run, uploaded a reaction video the following day, describing the trail running community’s ethos of encouragement and support before saying “I have no words. What on earth did Camille Herron think she was doing?”.
A thread on the running forum LetsRun also generated 360 comments, as well as several hundred other responses from Reddit communities for trail and ultrarunning.
Herron was already one of the most visible ultrarunners in the sport, holding world records in several different events, including the 48-hour and six-day durations. She’s also been an outspoken advocate for autism and ADHD, after being diagnosed with both and has written frequently about her own mental health.
“At the beginning of my Ultrarunning career, I was badly bullied and painted in a bad light by esteemed people and media in the sport. Everyone said how welcoming the Ultra/Trail community is, but that’s not how I was treated at the beginning,” Herron wrote in an Instagram post, in August.
“I was new to the sport and didn’t have a community and support system yet. I’m also a shy person, not super social, and like a lot of Autistic people I’m often misunderstood and misjudged.”
“Even if people don’t get to know me in person, I hope that the community knows that I’m kind, joyful, and caring. I’m also here to stand up for others, myself, integrity, and doing what’s right. No one should feel unwelcomed trying Ultrarunning/Ultra-Trail. I’m here for you if anyone has been made to feel this way.”
Swift consequences
Due to the backlash she received from Canadian Running’s article, Herron deactivated all of her social media and her major sponsor, Lululemon, parted ways with her on Thursday morning.
Opening back up her Instagram page, Herron wrote a message to her followers on Friday before deleting the post. It had said the following:
“I’m very sad and heartbroken right now, and I needed to share this somewhere. Conor and I are good humans, and we don’t deserve what’s happened this week. I’ve been open about all of the bullying I’ve experienced in my career and the impact it’s had on my mental health. Conor is here to defend and take care of me.”
“I have nothing but love and respect for all of you who continue to stand by us, and I’m so sorry to anyone who has been hurt in any way. I appreciate the wonderful messages of those who know we have good hearts. I want to send out a hug. Thank you for caring. I will do my best for Spartathlon– this is my happy place.”
Following this, it’s been reported that Herron’s husband Holt wrote an email confession to Outside magazine along with several other running media websites (Canadian Running wasn’t amongst them), saying: “Camille had nothing to do with this. I’m 100 per cent responsible and apologise [to] any athletes affected by this and the wrong I did.”
Holt also said he had been the one to deactivate Herron’s social media accounts.
In an Outside article digging further into this strange series of events, Frederick Dreier wrote that he’d reached out to Canadian Running’s Dickinson, who said that Herron and Holt had never given him a reply.
Dreier reports that on Monday afternoon, a user on the social media platform X asked Herron about the story, to which her account responded: “It’s made up. Someone has an ax to grind and is bullying and harassing me.”
When Outside received comment from Holt, he explained that he and Herron had been delayed in responding because Canadian Running’s email went to spam.
“I never got a chance to say anything to the Canadian Running website before they published it,” Holt wrote.
Regarding why he made the alleged Wikipedia edits, Holt said: “I kept adding back in the details, and then they blocked my account in early February of this year.”
“Nothing was out of line with what other athletes have on their pages. Wikipedia allows the creation of another account, so I created a new account Rundbowie. I was going off what other athletes had on their pages using the username Rundbowie and copying/pasting this info.”
“I was only trying to protect Camille from the constant bullying, harassment and accusations she has endured in her running career, which has severely impacted her mental health,” he added. “So much to the point that she has sought professional mental health help.”