An influencer who went viral for high-fiving Ariana Grande during the New York City Marathon has been banned from next year’s race after it emerged that he used a counterfeit race number belonging to a French banking executive.
Content creator Mike Clarke managed to complete the entire 26.2-mile marathon on November 1 despite never officially registering for the event.
According to the New York Post, Clarke created a fake version of bib No. 4207, which had been assigned to Nicolas Bourot, the chief security officer of French banking group BPCE.
Clarke even posted footage of himself high-fiving Ariana Grande near the finish line, with the encounter going viral on social media.
However, his stunt eventually caught up with him when Bourot discovered photographs of the influencer competing under his race number.
Influencer defends sneaking into NYC Marathon with fake bib
Bourot, who had spent 10 years trying to secure a place in the prestigious marathon, was understandably frustrated to discover someone else had used his number.
“It’s not fair for all the runners because it’s very hard to get entrance to this marathon. I waited for 10 years before I was able to. Every year I try, I try, I try,” he told the Post.
The French executive initially feared Clarke’s participation could have affected his official results, but his finishing time of 3:23:23 remained intact.
Clarke, meanwhile, admitted in a since-deleted YouTube video that he wasn’t officially registered, but defended his decision to participate.
“At the end of the day they can call it unfair or cheating the system but for me it was to push my limits while running for this goal and have fun while doing it,” he said.
The influencer claimed he selected the number because of its connection to a friend who died and had dreamed of completing the world’s major marathons. He also said he received a finisher’s medal but gave it to a child afterward.
New York Road Runners confirmed that Clarke had been banned from the 2027 race after receiving multiple reports about his counterfeit bib.
“When individuals fraudulently enter our events, they jeopardize everyone’s safety,” an organization spokesperson said, condemning the behavior as harmful to the running community.
This isn’t the first time an influencer has been punished for breaking the rules at the NYC Marathon. In 2024, TikToker Matt Choi received a lifetime ban after having two people follow him on electric bikes to film his race.
More recently, Chinese fitness influencer Abeeeer lost her Brooks sponsorship after being caught riding a bicycle during the 2026 Berlin Marathon, despite initially celebrating her finishing time as a personal best.
I’m Abhishek Sharma, an author at TigerJek.com. I enjoy exploring games, testing different strategies, and turning what I learn into clear, useful guides. My goal is to help players understand the game better and improve without the usual confusion.
