Justin Turner Foundation Responds To Bib Forging “We Will Not Allow Her To Run With Us”

29
28544

As reported earlier this week, Valerie has copied, modified and forged bibs so that her and her friends could run in races without paying the entry fees. The evidence that appeared on her Instagram page was clear. She has been doing this for years.

In 2018 she ran The Los Angeles Marathon, and raised money for The Justin Turner Foundation. She was also raising money for foundation through the 2019 LA Marathon. I received an email Thursday evening, and would like to share.

Derek,

Thank you for shedding the light on the Valerie Reyes situation. While she didn’t do anything ethically wrong when she represented us for the Los Angeles Marathon in 2018, what she did to the other marathons can not be overlooked. Because of this, we will not allow her to run with us or raise money for our foundation for the upcoming Los Angeles Marathon in 2019.

Again, thank you for your time.

Clint

Justin Turner Foundation

I applaud The Justin Turner Foundation for taking this action, and it is clearly the right move to disassociate themselves from her. Last night, her fundraising page was no longer active.

However, there actually was an issue with her 2018 Los Angeles Marathon race.

Valerie ran with her bib, which she obtained legitimately.  However it is clear that she copied her bib and modified it for a friend.

When I zoomed in on the photo, it was clear the bib on the right was modified. You can see where they used a hole punch, and a white outline around where it was punched. This outline does not appear on the legitimate bib.

I have notified The Justin Turner Foundation and am in process of notifying The LA Marathon. Valerie is still registered for the 2019 LA Marathon, as the bib was purchased through the race. But she is no longer able to raise money for The Justin Turner Foundation.

If anyone still plans on registering for The LA Marathon or 5k, and wants to support The Justin Turner Foundation, follow the below link: I would love for some good to come out of this situation for the charity.

https://justinturnerfoundation.com/2019-la-marathon

Support Marathon Investigation

Thank you to all that have contributed to Marathon Investigation. Your contributions are what enables me to continue the work of Marathon Investigation. To support the site, please consider making a small contribution.

 

One-Time Contribution


Don’t want to use PayPal? Click below to contribute without going through PayPal.

29 COMMENTS

  1. Derek: has Valerie responded to any of the articles yet? I would be interested to hear what she has to say about her actions.

  2. Are you sure that particular 24455 bib is a fake? Looking at the photos from the results, it looks like the number was legitimately assigned to that runner, but then she allowed a couple of familiar faces to make a copy.

    Whatever, it still stinks.

    • CJ, it’s a fake. You have to look carefully. The legitimate assignee of 24455 is an Asian girl. Unfortunately there are much more pictures of the fake runner than the legitimate runner’s in the result page.

      The Asian girl, legitimate owner of 24455, has been running other races. Her name and photos match. I can’t imagine how she felt when she opened the result page only to find someone else with the same bib #….

    • Yes, if you look at the photos, there are two different runners wearing that bib #, the legitimate owner, and the runner pictured in the photos on the page.

  3. Who is stealing from charity now? Due to these articles and crazy acts of cyber bullying Valerie is no longer running for the JT Fountain!? Last year I noticed she raised over $2000 for this charity. Essentially you have accomplished her not being able to fundraiser this year, but yet you are seeking donations on your articles about her?! Surprised she hasn’t served you a DMCA letter for using her personal photos without her permission. Copyright infringement is also stealing. How ironic! You’re both thiefs at the end of the day!

    • Her not being allowed to raise money for the Justin Turner Foundation is a direct result of her stealing entries to the races.

      Please tell me exactly where I have committed copyright infringement. Her publicly posted photos are not protected.

      • Once again, both of you thieves think alike:

        The public street wasn’t protected, but that doesn’t give her the right to just run in the race.

        You’re claiming that her public photos are not protected, but that doesn’t give you to right to just copy, share & seek money for them on here.

        “Public’ means anyone on the platform can view and interact with the content. It is not a waiver of all other rights for that image. To share someone else’s Instagram photo, you need to get their permission. Without [permission], you’re infringing on someone else’s copyrighted work.”

        FYI-You are liable for civil damages, even more so because you are profiting from advertisements on this site & seeking donations with her pics. Technically she is legally entitled to those profits.

        https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.refinery29.com/amp/en-us/2018/04/196864/instagram-copyright-dos-donts

        • I can say as an attorney well versed in copyright and fair use laws, that Marathon Investigation is well within its rights to use these photos. What “Charity” is trying to argue is almost laughable.

        • Please refer to the Fair Use exception. Fair Use applies in this case. The purpose of posting her photos was to comment on them in the context of the article which is allowed.

          Additionally, I purchased the photo used in this article.

          Thanks

          • Just wondering (not criticizing): did purchasing that photo include rights to use it professionally? Sometimes you only purchase rights for non-professional use/social media only, right?

        • The banditing excuse that the roads are public is a joke! The roads are shut down to the public for most races. It’s stealing! If you’re worried about the fundraising, you can still raise funds, you just can’t race because you’re a theif. Also don’t post photos on a public profile that you wouldn’t want shared.

          • Good point. In this particular article, I used photos purchased from Marathonfoto. I pointed that out because Valerie would have zero claim to the copyright on the photo in this article. Marathonfoto could. I would still claim fair use.

            I did actually receive a take down notice related to the Instagram photos which I am disputing. One of the photos she included in her complaint was a watermarked Marathonfoto picture – which she definitely would not have the rights to.

    • Lol, JT is now not allowing her to raise money for the charity. This is a decision on their part, not stealing. In fact, many other people will be raising money for them instead.

  4. 100 bucks says “Charity” and Val are buddies. Also, Derek has added a link for all to donate to JT foundation, which I will most certainly do, now that Valerie is no longer tainting the foundation.

  5. Derek, I know you feel the need to answer a shill like Charity but based on what he/she said they have a different agenda and no answer will make them happy. Be professional with your reply but don’t hold back on directly challenging the stupidity of the comments.

    The amount of entry fees this group of people have stolen from races, charity/community and otherwise, far exceeds her fund raising by a huge factor. Add to that the cost of medical personnel, security, medals, and supplies that are a direct cost to the race based on the runners on the course that day I suspect Charity must be one of the group. To top it off, if I contributed to the cause I would be happy that I did but would never again support a cheater as evidenced by your comments above. I would find an honest and deserving runner for my charity dollars.

  6. o.m.g. in response to “ Charity”.

    public instagrams posts? Facebooking lawyering is not real lawyering. Please consult with an attorney. Valerie R. did not use her best judgment here, Anyone who copies a bib (no accusations made here in this post) should consult an attorney.

    AND, hopefully, folks donate to this charity to compensate for at least five bib who did not donate/compensate the charity which was HOPING to raise funds for a good cause here.

  7. Charity,

    You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Please get your monies refunded for your Google Law Degree.

    (Oh, and Hi Val!)

  8. For lawyers, Charity’s and Valerie’s fake bib numbers represent liability causes for the races. They are identity thieves who scam people’s money for their own entertainment. And they are more likely the kind of people to steal out of HOA or PTA money, not to mention dozens of GoFundMe fake pledges. Such frauds.

  9. Oddly enough, ‘Valerie Reyes’ is also the name of the person recently found stuffed in a suitcase in Connecticut. It appears not to be the same person though.

  10. The story of Val’s efforts to get these photos taken down would be interesting to hear – as would whether Val (or “her hotness”) has heard of “The Streisand Effect”.

Comments are closed.