Popular ultrarunner Camille Herron is facing the heat after her husband Conor Holt admitted to editing her competitors' Wikipedia pages to fluff up her image.
The Oklahoma athlete, 42, is one of the world's top ultramarathon runners, who has set 12 world records and also became the youngest woman to reach 100,000 lifetime running miles at the age of 40 in 2022.
Highlights
- Camille Herron and her husband Conor Holt have been accused of editing her competitors' Wikipedia pages to enhance her own image.
- Conor admitted to making edits under usernames “Rundbowie” and “Temporun73” to fluff his wife's Wiki page and downplay her rivals'.
- The two accounts allegedly made over 300 Wikipedia edits since 2017, half of which boosted Camille's page.
- The controversy led to Lululemon ending sponsorship with the decorated ultrarunner.
Her illustrious running career now has the addition of a Wikipedia controversy, which led to her losing her Lululemon sponsorship.
Popular ultrarunner Camille Herron and her husband Conor Holt have been accused of editing her rival’s Wikipedia pages to fluff up her image
Image credits: Lululemon
Under the username “Rundbowie,” the couple allegedly made changes to her fellow runners' Wikipedia pages and downplayed their achievements. Simultaneously, they also allegedly spruced up her own Wikipedia page to make her look better.
They previously operated another Wikipedia account, “Temporun73,” which was temporarily banned by the platform for violating their interest policies. The new account, Rundbowie, was born hours after the ban on the previous account.
Together, the two accounts have reportedly made over 300 contributions to different Wikipedia pages since 2017. More than half of these were reportedly enhancements and frills to Camille’s Wiki page, according to Canadian Running Magazine.
The Oklahoma athlete has an illustrious running career, and in 2022, she became the youngest woman to reach 100,000 lifetime running miles at the age of 40
Statements like “widely regarded as one of the best trail runners ever” were deleted from the pages of ultrarunners Kilian Jornet and Courtney Dauwalter. "Removing puffery" was listed as the justification for the omissions.
Meanwhile, Camille’s page was unabashedly gussied up with statements to the tune of, “widely regarded as one of the greatest ultramarathon runners of all time.”
The Temporun73 account had received multiple warnings from Wikipedia for making self-glorifying edits to Camille’s page, but the couple’s account dismissed them.
Conor, the husband and coach, admitted to making the changes and said his world-record breaking wife had nothing to do with it
Image credits: Camille Herron
“Using language like ‘legendary,’ ‘prestigious,’ and ‘steely toughness’ is not the kind of neutral tone that is allowed in writing here. Wikipedia is a factual source of content, not a promotional platform for athletes,” read one warning message to the account.
In an email posted on LetsRun, Conor had admitted to embellishing Camille’s Wikipedia page and downplaying the achievements of other runners. He also said his wife, who is the only athlete to win all the IAU World Championships distances (50K, 100K and 24 hours), had nothing to do with it.
“For the Wikipedia part, temporun73 was the original account I created in 2016 and use to edit the page. I manage this so Camille can focus on her running and recovery,” he wrote.
Under two different accounts, the couple allegedly made more than 300 contributions to different Wiki pages since 2017, including the deletion of statements like "widely regarded as one of the best trail runners ever" from fellow runners' pages
Image credits: Camille Herron
The husband and coach said he was merely trying to protect his wife from “constant bullying, harassement, and accusations.”
“Starting in 2023 and continuing to this day, cyber bullies by the name of Steven Walling, Liliana Uwu, C.Fred, Melcous, and some more were repeatedly editing out significant parts of Camille’s life/ biographical details,” he wrote.
“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," he continued. "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."
Lululemon announced that they were ending their "ambassador partnership" with the 42-year-old athlete in light of the Wikipedia controversy
The scandal has led to Camille’s primary sponsor Lululemon ending their contract with her.
“We are committed to upholding equitable competition in sport for all and intentionally partner with ambassadors who embody these same values,” the brand said in a statement.
“After careful consideration and conversation, we have decided to end our ambassador partnership with Camille,” the statement continued. “We want to acknowledge Camille’s achievements during our partnership and wish her well in her future endeavors.”