Request for deferral denied after claims appear to be unfounded
Penn Yan, New York (Combined News Services) ~ Peasantman Steel Distance Triathlon organizers have formally rejected the post-race deferral bid of six peasants who claimed to have overslept on race morning last year due to clocks not yet being invented.
The triathletes, all from nearby Geneva, had argued that because they are medieval peasants from a time before clocks had been invented, they should therefore be awarded a deferral until next year. However recently-surfaced social media posts have seemed to dispute their claims.
“We take all claims from medieval competitors seriously,” said Peasantman founder Joe McMahon. “But upon further examination, it seems the story they gave us is not genuine.”
McMahon pointed to a series of Instagram posts by John of the Hills, one of the six athletes in question. Mr. Hills posted several pictures of the group drinking mead and pints of ale at a tavern the night before the race while posing with a grandfather clock. Some of the peasants even seemed to be wearing wristwatches. One post showed the six athletes together with a caption that read, “T-minus 4 hours to the Peasantman start. Time to head home and set our alarm clocks!”
After being confronted with the posts, the Peasants changed their story to claim that perhaps they did have clocks, but they did not know how to tell time properly because no one taught them.
However just last week a neighbor of the athletes claimed to have heard several alarm clocks going off in the hours before the race. “It sounded like they hit the snooze a bunch of times, and I’m pretty sure I heard one of them say ‘there’s no way I’m racing today’ or something,” said the neighbor, who did not want to be named.
Race officials hope this situation serves as an example for other athletes who travel across the centuries to take part in the race. Said McMahon, “we support our time traveling competitors. But we’re a USAT sanctioned race, and we have to abide by the rules.”
John of the Hills and his five friends beg race founder Joe McMahon (left) for a deferral after oversleeping before last year's Peasantman triathlon. Recently-surfaced social media posts show the athletes drinking heavily the night before the race.