There are two (in)famous cases of pacesetters continuing the race and going on to win: Paul Pilkington at the 1994 Los Angeles marathon, and Tom Byers at the 1981 Bislett Games. Byers built a ten-second lead when "the rest of the field refused to follow his pace" and Pilkington similarly was well away from the rest of the pack at the point he ... More @Wikipedia
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