Andrea Sager has been stripped of her official New York City Marathon finish after video caught her taking a hit of marijuana mid-race.
The Houston-based lawyer and influencer, 35, learned this week that New York Road Runners erased her name from the finisher’s board Tuesday for violating the organization’s Code of Conduct, which explicitly bans smoking tobacco and marijuana products during the event. Sager had completed the November race in just under six hours while wearing a hot pink T-shirt that turned her into an internet sensation.
The shirt’s front read “Andrea, 35, Single. Great Credit. Bad Judgment,” while the back carried a warning: “Looking for a man with more endurance than my ex.” Dozens of men approached her on the course, and hundreds more flooded her direct messages afterward, though none have yet earned a spot on her packed calendar.
Sager had raised thousands of dollars for charity to secure her entry in the 50th running of the Big Apple race, her first marathon. She argued in her dispute that her nearly six-hour finish time proved she was no elite contender, but organizers held firm given the clear video evidence showing her bib number and distinctive shirt as she accepted the puff from a stranger.
“I mean, I get it. It’s annoying, but they didn’t ask for the medal back and I’m getting a lot of coverage, I’m talking with the brands now, so there’s a lot of upside, but still annoying,” Sager told The Post on Friday.
The mother of two emphasized she had no pre-race plan to consume cannabis. “I wasn’t planning on smoking weed on the course, but I was in so much pain and needed something to help me finish,” she said.
Despite the disqualification, Sager remains defiant about the moment. “But if she had the chance to go back in time and continue running past the kind pothead, Sager emphasized she ‘wouldn’t change a thing.'”
“Just go have fun! Do something that is fun, getting laughs and making people smile,” she advised others, reflecting on the experience.
The shirt itself was born from contrast. Sager described her daily reality as a single mother and practicing lawyer as “all business all the time,” leaving little room for spontaneity. “I just wanted to have fun with it because I’m so hardcore all the time,” she explained.
The gamble paid off beyond her dating life. “And now it’s turned into a lot of opportunities. So honestly, I can’t be mad. I understand they have rules,” she added.
Sager is now weighing whether to redeploy the viral shirt at an upcoming Houston race, hoping a local field might yield more practical romantic prospects. She also floated the possibility of tackling another full 26.2-miler to replace the erased official finish.
“It just means that we might have to just run another marathon!” she said.
The November race marked the 50th edition of the five-borough event, which draws tens of thousands of runners annually. Sager’s disqualification came after video circulated showing her mid-puff, bib 43486 visible, the neon shirt impossible to miss among the streaming crowd crossing one of the course’s bridges.
She’s already plotting her return to racing, with Houston’s event calendar offering potential redemption.