UPDATED: 'Biggest Loser' issues a marathon apology for misleading viewers

It was an inspiring finish to this week's two-part episode of NBC's "The Biggest Loser": Dane, who lost 100 pounds in just eight weeks before being eliminated from the weight-loss competition, is seen running a marathon alongside his fit-and-trim wife and crossing the finish line in what appears to be an eye-popping time of three hours and 53 minutes.

Only it didn't happen. Dane got himself an assist to the finish line courtesy of a field producer. UPDATED: Here's the statement Dane released late Friday:

"I always intended to run the full marathon. At the 17th mile, I knew I would not make it in time to cross the finish line before it closed at 6 hours, so I then received a ride from the field producer, who wanted to show me crossing the finish line. He drove me for three miles, and then I ran the rest of the way. After all the filming was done I went back and finished the last 3 miles later that day with my wife and cousin Blaine. I apologize for stating that I ran the entire marathon before I actually ran the whole 26 miles. I am proud of the feat of just running 26 miles in one day."

Here's the statement issued earlier in the day by Reveille, one of the show's producers:

As the Executive Producers of The Biggest Loser we would like to make an official apology and set the record straight with regards to the claim in last nights episode that Dane completed a marathon in Arizona.

After seeing on various online blogs that this information may be inaccurate we investigated the claim and found that Dane had not indeed completed the marathon unaided. From our internal investigation we learned that Dane ran the first 17 miles before receiving a ride from the field producer for 3 miles before rejoining the race at the 20 mile mark whereupon he completed the race.

We are incredibly proud of Dane for running 23 miles and losing over 130 lbs on his weight loss journey so far and wish him luck as he continues his new healthy lifestyle. We have also taken the necessary action to ensure that there is no future misrepresentations and sincerely apologize for misleading our loyal viewers and it was certainly not our intent but an unwitting mistake.

We hope they will continue to be inspired and motivated by all of our contestants and follow them as they continue to change their lives.

Here's NBC's statement:

In the final segment of last night's episode of “The Biggest Loser,” which updated viewers on the status of an eliminated contestant, the former contestant was shown running a marathon in his home state of Arizona. NBC today learned that the contestant did not, in fact, run the entire marathon as depicted in the segment. Because the segment as aired was contrary to NBC policy, we are working with the program producers to determine how this occurred, and to ensure that corrective action is taken.

Sources close to the production said this is what happened:

Dane was eliminated on Thursday night’s show, kicked off by fellow contestants who believed –— rightly — that he was one of the front-runners to win the $250,000 prize that will be handed out to the person who loses the largest percentage of his or her body weight. As is customary, the epilogue to the elimination is a segment in which the cameras catch up with the contestant today, to see whether the weight loss is continuing at home.

Dane’s epilogue was, seemingly, one of the most inspirational in recent memory when it was announced that he’d been training for and had completed a marathon.

But it turns out that an overeager field producer who was following Dane on race day realized that "The Biggest Loser" contestant would not finish the marathon by the six-hour cutoff time, which in turn meant that the producer would not get the footage of Dane crossing the finish line in personal victory. So the field producer picked Dane up in a vehicle and then dropped him a few miles closer to the finish. While the finish time in the background appeared to be 3:53, it was actually 5:53 — the descrepancy being caused by some bum lightbulbs on the time clock that made the 5 appear to be a 3, the source said.

The source also said Dane was so upset that he accepted the ride and didn't run the full distance that he went back later in the day — with his cousin Blaine, who was also with him on the show — and ran the missing miles so that he could say he did indeed run 26.2 miles.

The source said the fabrication came to NBC's attention after that apparent sub-four-hour finish time — an enviable pace for even an experienced runner — set off alarm bells in many corners, including among other runners in the marathon, and the blogosphere began buzzing about whether such a pace was possible for a big guy like Dane. (Kudos to TVBarn.com, which did a great job of covering the unfolding story with the tart headline, "The Biggest Loser" — or is that "Biggest Liar"? — fabricates account of contestant finishing marathon).

The traditional morning-after conference call with the week's eliminated contestant — in this case, Dane — was abruptly canceled.

NBC has rescheduled the conference call for Monday.

Another source close to "The Biggest Loser" said there was a feeling of sadness because the show "relies on its integrity" in a world where reality programming is often suspect, and this person hoped this didn't overshadow Dane's accomplishments. "Dane is such a nice guy," the source said.

It was unclear what, if anything, will happen to the field producer.

In the meantime, what do you think about this development? Does this hurt the show's credibility?

— Rene Lynch

Photo credit: NBC Universal

Comments

[Peter]

Immediately after the show aired, I started looking for anything I could find about this episode. My wife and I knew that was impossible. 26.2 miles in under 4 hours?? I'm 6' and 185 pounds. I can't run a marathon in under 4 hours. That is just under a 9 minute mile average. I'm not saying he can't run a 9 minute mile. I'm just saying he can't run 26 nine minute miles consecutively. I'm sure there were plenty of people smart enough to figure out the math as soon as it aired, but I'm also sure there were plenty of people who were irate at the fact that NBC actually thinks we're all stupid enough to believe that could actually happen. NBC made a huge mistake.

[Carl]

I think NBC is still lying about what happened....Why couldn't they get a shot of him crossing the finish line passed the time limit who really cares what his time was he finished a marathon. Also, it's kind of weird that they say their was a bum light and it said 3:53 but because of the light it was supposed to read 5:53...Because we all know that 3's and 5's are close to each other, yeah right.

Also, Dane is an idiot why would he except the ride anyway if he had been training for this race for so long. He couldn't run at least a 13 min mile pace after he's been training for this I don't believe that. This hole story still sounds sketchy to me. I think everyone is still stretching the truth a bit.

[Seth]

This is disappointing as we are huge fans of the show, despite its disgusting product placement.

This is a lie in the same vein as A-Rod.

There's no way he ran 23 miles in 3 hours 56 minutes and then was worried he wouldn't finish the whole thing in 6 hours.

NBC is smart to push the blame on to a nameless field producer as not to make one of their contestants look like a fraud --- guess what, Dane? You're now a fraud.

[Tim]

So, what I'm wondering is how you get a "3" from a "5" with a bum lightbulb. If one of the bulbs was burned out on a 5, you wouldn't get anything resembling a 3. You'd actually need a lightbulb to burn out and another to have spontaneously turned on! If you ask me, there was more of a cover up than they're saying, as turning a digital 5 into a digital 3 would have taken some magic back at the studio.

[GBG]

I have never watched this show, I saw on my home page a one liner on "marathon loser" was listed and it sparked my interest after running 2 marathons myself. Any marathoner knows that you cant "get a lift to the finish.. finish.. and then go back and run the other part of the race," My mother who was 62 at the time and I finished just under 6 hours and we limped and cursed our way to the finish. That is what makes a true runner and marathon finisher... not giving a crap of what people think of your times and how you look..Congrats on your weight loss and trying the race but please next time dont pull a " Rosie." And field producer what were you thinking????

[Pumph]

Wow, another set of lies to cover up a lie.

He was driven 3 miles closer to the finish so that he could run the final 6.2 miles on his own? Doubt it. Sounds like a good estimate by the production people - to drive him 3 miles closer to the finish to make sure that he'd finish less than 7 minutes ahead of the deadline. That's cutting it very close, to have an overweight, struggling man running the final 6.2 miles on his own before a rapidly approaching deadline. If they wanted to make sure that he finished, they wouldn't have cut it that close.

The digits on the clock were burnt out making the 5 look like a 3? Doubt it.

His wife, who is in good shape, was just finishing at 5:53 along side him? Doubt it.

He went back and ran those 3 miles that he skipped? Doubt it. You know how sore he'd be after the lactic acid built up in those legs? He'd have a better chance of running an extra 10 miles at the time of the race than going back and running 3 hours afterward.

The most likely scenario is that she ran the race in 3:53, and he was driven to the finish to finish the last couple hundred yards for the cameras with her. Whether he ran anything more than just for the cameras is debatable. Probably. But probably not more than a few miles. I'm sure the true story will come out soon enough from people who were at the marathon.

[Dave O'Brien]

This is very sad. As a fan of the show, I believed this to be one of exceptional integrity. This needs to be addressed publicly by the producers.

[alice]

As runners ourselves, my partner and I would like to know about things like the speed they claim to be running contestants at on the treadmills. We're reasonably fit and can't begin to approach the speeds on our own treadmill that supposedly 200, 300+pound people are running on theirs. I wish someone would look into that.

[shannon]

I don't see anything wrong with what they did for entertainment purposes. Folks this is just a show....albiet "reality". How many peoples realities are full of odd happenings,mishaps, push's and so forth?

The only problem I had with it is that Dane excepted a medal. That was personal and if one does not fullfill a feat to himself then why accept kudo's for it? That part did nt make sense but the rest is just....Entertainment.....which far to many viewers are taking personal.

Enjoy life...live and get off the couch...quit watching T.V. and you wont get so mad when you see something you don't like....lol

[Antton]

"After seeing on various online blogs that this information may be inaccurate we investigated the claim" Let me get this straight, if wasn't until the blogs busted them that they felt it necessary to "investigate". This kind of crap happens in all of the "reality" shows, from subtle editing of misrepresenting contestants' responses - to the full-blown, in your face, "take that!!" deceptions. The media lies. Imagine, the same scenario occurring in a legitimate race, the networks would have a feeding frenzy. Eventually, and it's happening, more intelligent Americans will forsake their television watching and regain their values, virtue, themselves and reality, unencumbered by the media and the movies

[ambrown]

Are you kidding me? The guy ran 26.2 miles! Yes he shouldn't have made us think he did it in the ellotted time period, but for god sakes, he did it! A couple months before that he was lucky to run a mile! Great job Dane! I don't care that you wouldn't have made it in the 6 hours, It is a true inspiration and I hope that people see that it was the television fame and glory that wanted this, not yours and that you still do have loyal fans that are sooooooooo proud of you for running that marathon if i took ten minutes or a day. Good Job! Win that finale!

[kay smith]

Even if hedid that for the tv I have deep respect for him.I can not do it.20 miles is a long way.He is still losing and that was the purpose. He made a good effort.

[AGAZ]

What is most disturbing is the comment about the "bum bulbs" causing the 5 to be a 3. Just another lie on top of a lie (and it would be easy enough to confirm). NBC's corporate culture is apparently OK with lying or passing the buck or none of this would have happened in the first place.
Companies with integrity typically fire employees with intentionally deceit thier customers and hurt the corporate reputation, but we will probably never know what happens to the field producer.
BTW, the timing and scoring company should sue NBC.

[kerri]

Let the guy run again! No, it was not right to lie like that. He's an amazing person, however. To be able to lose 100 pds already is wonderful. I'd like all of America to get off their bums and be able to acomplish that. He still brings me determination!

[Mark]

These reality shows have credibility?

[whocares]

Who cares! The guy still ran 23miles and even a fit person will have some difficulties running that. He still had a good work out. I don't think it should ruin the show. At least there is actually one show out there that promotes and shows everyone that America does have an obesity problem. Rather than worrying about if the show was wrong for doing that, you should get off your butts and start moving around and start getting healthy.

[gail schwarz]

My daughter who is in excellent shape just ran last year in the Marine Corps. Marathon in less than four hours and I could not believe that it was possible for Dane to to do the same type of marathon.
She trained for months to run this marathon and I knew that something was wrong when I saw the show. Dane should have run and fnished on his own even if it took him past the 6 hour deadline. I think that the Biggest Looser started out with good intentions but it has now become a show to see which trainer can become the Biggest Drama King or Queen.

[Judy]

He didn't do it, so what? What's the big deal. You people always want something to talk about. Get your own life, do your own thing, then talk about that.

[Carla]

Biggest Loser is an awe inspiring show that has given me the courage I need to lose weight after being obese my entire life, I'm 47 years old. So NO! I don't agree that the shows integrity has been damaged. For those of you that ran the race, I'm sure it was a disappointment that this happened. However unless you have been an extremly obese person sometime in your life. You will never understand how Dane felt! He followed some bad advise given by the field director; but that does not take away his integrity. I watched the 8 weeks he was on Biggest Loser, he was and still is an inspiration to myself and I'm sure to many others. He should be admired for trying to complete his goal. Not critisized for listening to poor advice. 26 miles is a huge task for someone that is obese! So completing it in one day was a miracle in it self. God Bless You Dane! I think your Awesome.

[Eileen]

Eh I still like the show..Running 23 miles is just as impressive. I think it would have been wierd to explain what he did at the end of that particular episode. The shear fact he lost 130 pounds without some sort of surgery should inspire people. This is such a small discrepency and really not worth all the hoopla.