Background information on Kip Litton, DDS
Dr. David Kipling ("Kip") Litton is a dentist in the town of Davidson, Michigan.
His previous description of himself (at kiplittondds.com, his previous website) included
“
Dr. Litton ... graduated from The University of Michigan Dental School and has practiced dentistry in Davison since 1990. He is married and has three school aged children who enjoy sports. He is an avid biker and marathon runner and enjoys helping raise funds in support of a cure for Cystic Fibrosis.
”
(Undated webpage at his previous website. Content last reverified on January 30, 2013.)
This description has changed, and now doesn't mention his marathon running:
“
In 1988, Dr. Kip Litton graduated from the University of Michigan School of Dentistry... Two years after earning his DDS, Dr. Kip Litton started treating patients in his Davison office
...
Dr. Litton is married and has three school aged children who enjoy sports. He is an avid biker and enjoys helping raise funds in support of a cure for Cystic Fibrosis.
”
(Undated webpage at his new website,
drkiplitton.com. Content last reverified on April 21, 2014.)
New!
Someone has gone to a lot of effort to set up websites with similar (but not identical) content about Dr. Litton's dental practice. I cannot tell if they were set up by Dr. Litton or some well-wisher.
New!
Social Media about Dr. Litton:
• He has a Facebook page, Kip Litton, where there are a few entries about his running activities.
• His tweets at Twitter
don't mention running.
• His LinkedIn profile mentions his interests as
"Running, Biking, Tennis, Travel, Movies, Food, Sports, Music"
•
He also has a presence at
Tumblr, where a posting on 9/4/2013 states
"Dr. Litton hopes to participate in walks and 100-mile bike rides in all 50 states."
Verify A License/Registration
for David Kipling Litton, at Michigan's Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.
(The information was rechecked on
April 21, 2014.)
Dr. Litton's dental license was issued 9/7/1988, and is Active, with no Open Formal Complaints and no Disciplinary Action.
|
Davison dentist Kip Litton has transformed himself from sedentary middle-ager to successful marathoner
(April 25, 2010; Updated October 31, 2011)
“...He finished Boston in 3:35:09 that year [2004], then started chopping off chunks of time in subsequent years. He ran 3:23:23 in 2005, 3:03:02 in 2006, 2:58:45 in 2007, 3:05:11 in 2008 and 2:54:55 in 2009. His 2:52:12 Monday was a personal best for any marathon, making his 10th straight sub-three-hour performance...”
West Wyoming Marathon,
Jackson Hole, WY USA At MarathonGuide.com (July 3, 2010)
Note: Dr. Litton has admitted to the author of the New Yorker article (see below) that the West Wyoming Marathon was a fabrication.
From the New Yorker, August 6, 2012, page 46:
“He
[Dr. Litton]
provided this account of what happened at West Wyoming:
‘The West Wyoming Marathon did actually exist. It was set up to accommodate our family trip to that area. In planning our vacation, I launched the website for the race,
which was set up with race day registation.
Over a dozen people indicated that they would likely come & run.
I had a local resident lined up to help out. Race morning I got quite a surprise when no one showed up. I ran anyway. As the only entrant I placed both first and last.
The first issue of the results contained only my name. A tech savvy friend convinced me this would look ridiculous & he could add some
additional names. After thinking that this would in no way harm any other actual person, I agreed. So yes I am absolutely responsible for that. I regret making this snap decision and I realize I should not have
ruined something that was meant to be legitimate.’”
Please note: Some or all of the comments at the
West Wyoming Marathon webpage at MarathonGuide.com seem to be sarcastic comments by people who knew of Dr. Litton's behaviors, rather than by
actual runners — as Dr. Litton indicated he was
the only runner.
The original WWM website no longer exists, and the domain name (westwyomingmarathon.com) now leads to a website selling T-shirts, mugs, and other items emblazoned with the name of the fictious race. (The author of the WorldRecordRun website
has nothing to do with the website selling WRR merchandise, except to list it here and reproduce a picture of one of the shirts they have for sale.)
World record run....Kip Litton (August 28, 2010)
“
...You will not see any info on our Delaware Marathon. Why....because this guy Kip Litton was dq'ed
[disqualified]. And I am not the only race director who has dq'ed him. Kip is trying to raise money for CF....but who are checks written to? His website. I have a team of 3 runners who have researched this guy. What we have come up with will blow your mind...
Why would someone travel this far NOT to run a marathon....
”
Study of Kip Litton Running
A blog that started in December, 2010. The latest entry is
November 17,
2013.
Rojo says he might start a
Kip Litton thread but only 1 and only 1 thread
At LetsRun.com
A discussion forum about Dr. Litton that started in January, 2011. As of
April 21
2014, it has
257
pages.
A warning to folks who haven't yet read the entries in this forum: Many entries might have been written by Kip Litton impersonators,
or by Dr. Litton himself,
and it is impossible to tell which is which. And there is lots of miscellaneous chatter that's off-topic.
NOTE: There's a newer discussion forum about Dr. Litton at LetsRun — see below.
The Outing of Kip Litton (January 12, 2011)
“Something tells me that the old quote: "If you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin'" is one of Kip Litton's favorites. For those unfamiliar with Mr. Litton, he is a dentist in Davison, MI who has been claiming to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis by trying to run a sub-3 hour marathon
in every state. His website was WorldRecordRun.com, but
[the original website] has been taken down...”
Kip Litton (black shirt) Attempted Finish (DQ) at Missoula Marathon (Uploaded to
YouTube on January 14, 2011)
“Kip Litton DQ Finish at Missoula Marathon. he crossed the line in 2hrs 49min (net or chip time) but was later disqualified by race staff. Read more at
http://kiplitton.blogspot.com/2011/01/missoula-marathon.html”
Marathon Man: A Michigan dentist’s improbable transformation.
(The full article is now available at the New Yorker website, as of September 4, 2012. It was originally published August 6, 2012.)
“About Kip Litton, a Michigan dentist who has been accused of repeatedly cheating in marathons and other distance-running events. In July, 2010, Kyle Strode, a forty-six-year-old from Helena, Montana, ran the Missoula Marathon. He placed fourth out of thirteen hundred and twenty-two finishers, and won the masters division, for entrants forty and older. The second masters runner to cross the finish line, Mike Telling, from Dillon, Montana, trailed Strode by nearly four minutes. At the awards ceremony, however, they learned that Telling had actually placed third. The official runner-up was Kip Litton, age forty-eight, of Clarkston, Michigan. Litton, who had been at the back of the pack when the race started, began his run two minutes after the gun was fired. He had apparently made up for lost time. Several days after the marathon, Strode visited a Web site that displayed photographs of runners along the Missoula route. Most participants appeared in several shots,
each of which indicated, down to the second, when it was snapped. Strode noticed something curious: although there were four images of Litton taken at or near the finish line, and he’d posted a half-marathon split time, Strode couldn’t locate him anywhere in the
preceding twenty-six miles...” (Quoted from the New Yorker abstract of the story.)
Kip Litton's Results (At athlinks.com).
As of August 6, 2012,
114 races were listed from August 2001 to October 2010 including the fictitious West Wyoming Marathon discussed above; however as of August 13, 2012, the WWM
had disappeared and only 113 races are listed.
Fortunately, I had created a PDF of the August 6 version of the webpage and include it here:
August 6 version (PDF file). WWM is third entry.
Here's a PDF of the August 13 version.
Interestingly, Kip's listing as of October 13, 2013 had even less races: he was down to 110. On November 28, 2013 he was back to 113.
The Mysterious Marathons of Kip Litton
(July 31, 2012)
“...The way Kip Litton "ran" the marathons was even more fascinating. He would start minutes behind the rest of the field, with his number covered be a shirt or sweatshirt, a cap pulled down over his ground-facing face so that he might not be recognized. Then he would appear at the end of the race, often after a change of clothes and shoes without registering at checkpoints and without his picture being taken by race photographers. His chip time from a later start would often place him in front of age group racers who never saw him on the course...”
Dentist Accused of Faking Marathons
(August 21, 2012)
“In one of the more interesting dental stories to hit the news in ages, The New Yorker has published an investigative piece on a dentist who has allegedly been faking running marathons.
Dentist Kip Litton is from Davison, Michigan, and his original claim to fame came from his efforts to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis by trying to run a marathon in every state of the U.S...”
My Unexpected Connection to The Kip Litton Marathon Fraud Story
(September 2, 2012)
“...I was familiar with the name Kip Litton from the Let’s Run forums, but had never actually read any of the threads about him. However, for some reason the name seemed familiar to me, and I couldn’t quite put my finger on why. Tonight I figured it out...”
Lie, Cheat, Run a Marathon (September 5, 2012)
“In the strange case of Kip Litton, there exists no positive proof of cheating although evidence has been strong enough to warrant his disqualification from a number of races. Litton claims that his marathons have all been legitimate, but one of them was entirely fabricated, and...”
The Genius of Kip Litton (September 11, 2012)
“If you have never heard of Kip Litton let me fill you in.
He was ostensibly a 48 year old dentist who was trying to run a sub-3 hour marathon in all 50 states, with the stated purpose of raising money for charity.
He was well on his way to accomplishing this, completing 19 of the races when people started to notice peculiar things about Kip's performances...”
How Michigan Dentist Cheated His Way To Marathon Victories At WBUR website. (September 14, 2012)
“Kip Litton is a Michigan dentist who suddenly catapulted to the rank of top marathon runner. The only catch was that after a year or two of running sub-three hour marathons, his competitors started wondering why they never saw him on the course.”
Guest: Mark Singer, journalist.
The Honorable Clan of the Long-Distance Runner (September 29, 2012)
“As amateur marathon runners for nearly 50 years, we were surprised when our sport made headlines recently for an unusual reason.
Last month, The New Yorker published an article on the Michigan dentist Kip Litton, who digitally fabricated an entire marathon and outsmarted computer timing systems.”
Dr Kip Litton at 2010 Go St Louis Marathon (uploaded to YouTube October 30, 2012)
“Findings:
1. 5:06 to cross the starting line
2. Pics only at the finish and show him holding what appears to be a timing chip
3. Missed 6 mi and 20.6 mi timing mats.”
Top Stories of 2012: Trends in Running (December 20, 2012)
“6. Increased Awareness of Runners Cheating.
While it’s untrue that running cheaters never prosper, they are at least increasingly being called to account. Stories about performance-enhancing drugs reached into all levels of running this year—some top Olympic prospects withdrew soon before the Games for failing drug tests; one of history’s fastest half-marathoners alleged widespread drug use in Kenya; “B” circuit mainstay Christian Hesch’s admission of doping brought scrutiny to the topic below the top tier of road racing; and even Lance Armstrong’s alleged cheating in another sport reached into running, as he learned he’ll no longer be welcome at big-city marathons. And then there was cheating in races by cutting the course, highlighted by the curious case of Kip Litton, whose alleged fabrications were unearthed by diligent runners aghast that anyone would break such a central part of the runner’s code.”
How and Why? (March 26, 2013)
Webpage unavailable April 21, 2014.
“
If you search the name Kip Litton, you will find quite a lot has been written about his exploits, and none of it is complimentary. Well, with one exception. I read one commentary that suggested, somewhat like the late Andy Kaufman and his wrestling matches, that Litton is doing some kind of ironic performance art, and the joke is on us runners who take our sport too seriously.
We might never know the truth, because Litton doesn't seem to be talking much to reporters.
See you at the next race. I'll be the one running the whole thing...”
I'm breaking my rule: Second Kip Litton Thread - Can someone please tell me what's up?
At LetsRun.com
A second discussion forum at LetsRun.com about Dr. Litton; this one started in October, 2013. As of
April 21,
2014, it has
44
pages.
A warning to folks who haven't yet read the entries at LetsRun.com: Many entries might have been written by Kip Litton impersonators,
or by Dr. Litton himself,
and it is impossible to tell which is which. And there is lots of miscellaneous chatter that's off-topic.