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Katie Holmes MarathonGate: Mystery Solved?

Seth — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 14:29:16 EST

Who could have anticipated the Pandora's Brand Can o' Worms we'd be opening with our Katie Holmes NY marathon conspiracy coverage over the past few days? We asked questions, you had answers. You also had more questions, about mysterious men in photos and identical split times. We started to realize this was bigger than all of us. Or maybe it wasn't. We were cold. We were scared. We met a guy named Deep Socks. Eventually, we hit The Wall, but The Truth gave us our second wind. A round-up of the latest:
· Fox 411's Roger Friedman claims to have solved the mystery: Foxy Mossad Agent #6074 as commenters have dubbed him, is none other than personal trainer and aspiring actor Wesley Okerson—not Israeli, but in fact a Marylander living in Beverly Hills. Mary Okerson, Wes's mother, says he and mysterious identical split-timer Paul Vincent are Katie's trainers. She did, in fact, run the marathon, says Wes's mom! Mystery solved! (Also: Okerson was a guest of the Cruises' at the Lions for Lambs premiere.) [Fox 411]

· Several commenters have guided us to this photo of Mr. Cleanesque mystery runner Vincent, whose bib number matches the one on the marathon website, running right alongside Katie. As for being a 30-year-old male, as his registration claims, not so much. [Gothamist]
· Still, we're not quite done conspiracizing, regardless of what Mrs. Okerson says. This website service allows you to plug in the bib number of any marathon runner, and instantly pulls up photos of them taken throughout the course. Go ahead—try it with the numbers in this picture. Ever Okerson pops up! But Katie? Vincent? Nowhere. [Brightroom.com]
· Even if Katie is telling the truth, you know who isn't? Third place Mexican presidential race candidate Roberto Madrazo. He was a big fat Berlin marathon cheater! [TeamGearedUp.com]
· Just because Okerson was identified still doesn't clear up the question of why his bib number doesn't pull up in the official database. Not unless, of course, you look up the 2003 Marathon records, in which case #6074 was...a 74 year old man. [athlinks.com]

Deeper Down The Katie Holmes Marathon Conspiracy Rabbit Hole: Who Is Paul Vincent?

Seth — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 19:58:00 EST

When it comes to the Katie Holmes NY Marathon conspiracy, we realize we've thrown quite a bit at you over the past couple of days, but the single most damning piece of evidence had yet to land in our inbox. A tipster we'll call Deep Socks suggested we go to the official Marathon website and look up the split times, registered by every runner via computer chip (we're learning so much more about marathon culture than our lazy asses ever imagined possible!), of a runner named Paul Vincent:

he has the same exact time that katie holmes has in the ny marathon....

and the same splits...which is impossible and can only be explained by paul vincent wearing katie's chip and his chip, which registers your split times.....

Save for a few seconds here and there, their split times are virtually identical. (See side by side results above.) Is Paul Vincent the mystery runner photographed next to Katie throughout the course? But his bib read an unregistered #6074, and Vincent's number was #28994. So who is he? And why did he do this? Well that's the real question, isn't it? Why? The how and the who is just scenery for the public. Holmes, Cruise, Letterman, the Beckhams. Keeps 'em guessing like some kind of parlor game, prevents 'em from asking the most important question, why? Why was Katie running? Who benefited? Who has the power to cover it up? Who?

nycmarathon.org

Katie Holmes Marathon Mystery Deepens With New Questions About Unidentified Runner #6074: Updated

Seth — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 16:15:43 EST

Blogger Harlem 26.2 (whose description, "The chronicles of a Black man running through Harlem in pursuit of rebuilding his business, a sub 3:00 marathon, and a wife - all through the lens of running," is our current favorite) has been following all the Katie Holmes marathon conspiracy theorizing closely, and adds a fascinating insight to the mix that discounts the official "lone runman" theory:

All the conspiracy theories fail to mention or recognize the "mystery runner" that accompanied Katie in the race.

He wore bib # 6074, he does not show up or exist in the results database. He's the first runner in the history of the NYC Marathon to "not exist". He can be seen in photos on Flickr, we have the links on our site, just look in the comments of today, you'll see them.
The conspiracy fails when you see Katie has registered "split times" - however they could have been recorded by this "mystery runner, bib # 6074 - wearing her assigned timing chip - clearly adjacent to her at all times in the few photos that exists. Check out site, the photos on flickr, the NYC Marathon database - that runner is a total mystery....

One obvious explanation is that the tall, dark, and handsome mystery runner is Holmes's bodyguard, as the guy looks like he knows his way around a Krav Maga death-pinch. Still, that doesn't entirely rule out that Agent 6074's frequency-mimicking chip wasn't also receiving constant wireless dispatches from HQ, instructing him at one point to "detonate the fire hydrant by the entrance to the Queensboro bridge, then replace Runaway Bride with her bionic cyberclone during the ensuing confusion. Over."

UPDATE #1: Another mystery runner surfaces!
UPDATE #2: Runner #6074 I.D.'d?

Katie Holmes & Dave Letterman : NYC Marathon Conspiracy? [Harlem 26.2]
Katie Holmes Marathon Photos [Flickr]

Katie Holmes Still Claiming To Have Run New York City Marathon, But We Still Have Our Doubts

Mark Graham — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:38:03 EST

Ever since we called shenanigans on Katie Holmes' involvement in the New York City Marathon just over two weeks ago, conspiracy theorists have come out of the woodwork at a rate not seen since Ollie Stone introduced a nation to the ravings of Jim Garrison. As other news organizations started to poke around the highly sensitive hot button issue of marathon integrity, they found the story was a tough nut to crack. Even our nation's most dignified and respected journalistic outlet, US Weekly, was forced to mysteriously removed a blog post that dared to investigate Katie's alleged involvement in the upcoming Boston Marathon. Just when we thought the trail had gone cold, our cause reached its zenith last night when Katie Holmes appeared on The Late Show With David Letterman and addressed the issue that has kept millions of earth humans on the edge of their seats.

A few important things to note. One, Dave really went easy on her. He never really addressed the burgeoning conspiracy movement, but that's probably just because he's classier than we are. Still, we think he should've mixed in a probing question like "So, how is it that you were able to wear heels later that night?" Come on Dave, these are the reasons we watch you over Leno.

Two, Joey Potter (whose tragic haircut looks like a bad approximation of Natalie Portman's bob in The Professional), would like to have us believe that she decided to run the marathon in August! That gave her 90 days to get into marathon shape. Hmmm, sounds fishy and Dave seems to agree ("Did you go through the full regimen? The 20 mile runs?"). Katie just nods.

Three, we find out that the Kanye West's "Stronger" provided the necessary inspirado for Kate to (allegedly) complete the last six miles of the marathon. We know that Kanye is Tom Cruise endorsed, but why not just go with the "Mission: Impossible" theme?

'Us Weekly' Blog Post Goes Mysteriously Missing After Poking Around Into Katie Holmes's Involvement In Boston Marathon

Seth — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:40:34 EST

Of the many conspiracies swirling around Mrs. Kate Holmes-Cruise, none have provoked more heated debate lately—more so even than the one claiming she's L. Ron Hubbard's turkey-basted demon-child receptacle—than the question of her involvement in the New York City Marathon. (Our own voiced skepticism in a recent post instantly turned the Defamer comments section into a makeshift headquarters for the growing movement, where Grassy Stain and Magic Nipple theorists swapped information hungrily.) The mystery deepens after the jump:

An e-mail blast received today from usmagazine.com provided a link to an exclusive about the Mad Money star having registered for the Boston Marathon, and went on to suggest that strings had been pulled to get her in. All traces of the story have now disappeared from their website. Coincidence? Or was the post awakened in the dead of night to the dark inside of a pillowcase and the dread-inducing sound of unspooling duct tape, only to be shuffled into an awaiting van and never heard from again? Luckily, we managed to salvage the killed (!) story in time, which we reproduce for you below. Keep in mind that the same story is apparently currently on newsstands, so we're not exactly talking Woodward and Bernstein caliber reporting here. But still: Katie Holmes. The Boston Marathon. Do the math.

EXCLUSIVE: Katie Holmes Registers for Boston Marathon
Katie Holmes has signed on to run the Boston Marathon, Us Weekly reports in its new issue, on newsstands now.

The 29-year-old star of Mad Money — who recently said she was "so happy" for Tom Cruise's pregnant ex Nicole Kidman — had placed 34,193rd among 39,085 entrants in the New York City marathon (26.2 miles in about 5 hours and 30 minutes) on Nov. 4, which means she didn't qualify by merit for the April 21st race in Boston.

Runners in the Boston Marathon must have specific qualifying times. For Holmes' age group, that would mean finishing a previous marathon in 3 hours and 40 minutes.

The actress "received an exemption," a marathon insider tells Us, because race organizers "occasionally give out 'charity entrances.'"

UsMagazine.com