Cambridge ‘plagiarism’ professor claimed he ran nine marathons with broken leg that ‘ballooned to twice the size’… but photos of him at the finish line tell a different story
A former Cambridge University professor's account of running nine marathons on a broken leg has been called into question after photographs from the finish line appeared to contradict his version of events. Jason Arday, 41, who resigned from his post this week amid a separate plagiarism row, describes in his forthcoming memoir how he completed 30 marathons in 35 days for charity, including nine run after suffering a hairline fracture to his fibula that caused his leg to "balloon to twice its size". Photographs taken at Piccadilly Circus in summer 2010, however, show him crossing the finish line with two ordinary-looking legs and being greeted by a modest crowd, rather than the dramatic scenes he describes.
Arday's book, Great And Unfortunate Things, recounts a seizure and collapse on day 21 of the 918-mile challenge, followed by an X-ray revealing the fracture, and claims he was cheered on by "two or three thousand people" at the finish. The photographic evidence instead shows around 50 onlookers gathered near the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain. The discrepancy adds to mounting scrutiny of Arday, who rose to prominence as Cambridge's youngest black professor but has faced accusations of plagiarism and disputed claims about academic posts at other universities, prompting his resignation this week.
In short
- Ex-Cambridge professor's marathon injury story disputed by finish-line photos
- Claimed nine marathons run on broken, swollen leg before huge cheering crowd
- Photos show normal legs and roughly 50 onlookers, not thousands
Explained simply
Jason Arday is a British sociologist whose research focuses on race, education and social inequality. He became widely known after joining the University of Cambridge as a professor in 2023; Cambridge said he was its youngest Black professor.
The latest scrutiny concerns accounts in Arday’s forthcoming memoir of a charity challenge in 2010, when he says he ran 30 marathons in 35 days. Photographs from the finish appear to differ from his descriptions of a severe leg injury and a large cheering crowd. The questions have emerged alongside a separate dispute over alleged plagiarism in his academic work, which Arday has denied.