Andrea Sager disqualified from New York Marathon over a joint

American Andrea Sager, a 35-year-old Houston lawyer, has been disqualified from the New York Marathon and has lost her time of 5:54 for taking a puff of marijuana that, according to her, a spectator offered her during the race on Sunday 1 November. According to Sager, New York Road Runners (NYRR), the organiser, removed her from the results on Tuesday 10 November for breaching its Code of Conduct. Sager keeps her finisher’s medal; she says she has not been asked to return it.

What happened on the course and how it came to light

Sager was making her marathon debut. According to her, this year’s race was the 50th edition of the New York Marathon. A video posted on YouTube by a Brooklyn account shows her stopping next to a spectator, with her bib and pink T-shirt clearly visible.

The runner says the person who offered her the marijuana was a stranger. Of what happened, she explained: “I wasn’t planning to smoke marijuana on the course, but I was in so much pain and I needed something to help me finish.”

The case became public on Friday 13 November and Sager confirmed it on Instagram. She tried to appeal, arguing that her time, close to six hours, did not make her a competitive contender and that she had raised thousands of dollars for a charity in order to run. The disqualification stood and she accepted it. Sager ran with the charity team Team for Kids and set herself a target of raising $5,000 for youth running and fitness programmes, according to a post of hers on LinkedIn.

The T-shirt that made her go viral

Much of the attention is down to her outfit. The pink T-shirt carried the slogan “Andrea, 35, Single. Great Credit. Bad Judgment” on the chest and “Looking for a man with more endurance than my ex” on the back.

Sager is divorced, has two children and runs a legal technology company as well as her law firm. She says dozens of men approached her during the race and that hundreds have since sent her direct messages. On 10 November she explained that she was starting a video series about dating outside of apps. In the caption of her Instagram post about the disqualification she rewrote the slogan: “35. Single. Great credit. Poor judgment. Disqualified.” She is also considering wearing the T-shirt again in the coming weeks at a race in Houston.

what the law provides

The organisation’s code prohibits smoking, vaping and using tobacco or marijuana in the start corrals, on the course and in the finish area, and extends the restriction to 1,000 feet around them. Penalties start at disqualification and loss of eligibility for prizes, and can go as far as suspension or expulsion from future NYRR events and loss of membership. For now, Sager’s penalty is limited to the loss of her result.

The organisation’s rule is stricter than local law. Since New York legalised cannabis in 2021, people aged 21 and over can smoke it in most places where smoking tobacco is allowed, according to the city’s health department. Parks are an exception, and the New York Marathon finishes in Central Park.

A kept medal and a humorous reaction

Sager is taking the matter with irony. “I understand it’s annoying, but they haven’t asked me to give it back and I’m getting a lot of coverage. I’m already talking to brands, so there’s a lot of upside,” she said about the medal. On Instagram she joked: “Oh well! Now I can’t take my 5:54 to Boston.”

She also says she holds no grudge: “I can’t be mad. I understand they have rules.” On her approach to races, she says: “Go and have fun! Do something fun that makes people laugh and smile.” And on losing her result, she commented: “It just means maybe we have to run another marathon.”

Other cases of NYRR sanctions

This is not the first time the organisation has acted against high-profile runners. After the 2024 race, NYRR disqualified influencer Matt Choi, who had finished in 2:57:15, and banned him from future races run by the organisation because two people on e-bikes had filmed him along the course.

This edition, which recorded a record 61,146 finishers and was won by Andreas Almgren and Sheila Chepkirui, also saw another case: a content creator who ran with a copy of another participant’s bib and was filmed high-fiving Ariana Grande has been banned from the 2027 edition, according to reports.