Tracking data showed Joasia Zakrzewski, a 47-year-old GP from Dumfries who ran the 2014 Commonwealth Games marathon for Scotland, had briefly attained a "superhuman" speed of 35mph - which would have left Usain Bolt standing - in covering a mile in 1min 40sec.

The incident took place in the 2023 GB Ultras Manchester to Liverpool 50-mile race and has been referred to UK Athletics.

Wayne Drinkwater, the director of the GB Ultras race, said that after the ultramarathon he received information that a runner had gained an "unsporting, competitive advantage during a section of the event".

He added: "The issue has been investigated and, having reviewed the data from our race tracking system, GPX data, statements provided from our event team, other competitors and from the participant herself, we can confirm that a runner has now been disqualified from the event having taken vehicle transport during part of the route."

After finishing in 7 hours, 25min in a race involving more than 400 participants, Zakrzewski was photographed posing with her bronze medal.

Weeks earlier, she had broken the world record for the most miles run by a woman in 48 hours.

She has set also a number of other records including the Scottish 24-hour record, the British 200k and the Scottish 100 miles record.

Examination of tracking data reportedly showed she had covered around two-and-a-half miles of the route by car - potentially gaining herself as much as 25 minutes.

In addition, it showed she followed the main road rather than the race route for part of the event.

In 2011 Rob Sloan, who finished third in the Kielder Marathonm was disqualified for taking the free spectators' bus after he felt tired at the 20-mile mark.

He later retracted his confession but was banned from running races.

In the 1904 Olympic marathon, Fred Lorz of the United States became infamous after breasting the finishing tape in the stadium and claiming victory, only for it to emerge that he had stopped running because of exhaustion after nine miles (14.5km) and had been given a lift over the next 11 miles in his manager's car before continuing on foot.

Despite claiming he had been joking he was banned for life, but he was reinstated a year later and legitimately won the 1905 Boston Marathon.

A friend blamed her actions on her arrival the night before the race after travelling for 48 hours from Australia, where she is now based.

"The race didn’t go to plan," Adrian Stott told the BBC.

"She said she was feeling sick and tired on the race and wanted to drop out.

"She genuinely feels sorry for any upset caused."

But there have now been calls for her to be banned from running.

The medal for the third-placed woman was instead awarded to NHS podiatrist Mel Sykes, who took to Twitter to describe her shamed rival as a "cheat".

"Great news for me - but really bad news for sportsmanship," she wrote.

Answering questions about how her rival was caught, Sykes added: "Too many people noticed things were amiss and contacted the race organisers separately so they had to launch an investigation."

Race data uploaded to Strava by Zakrzewski and shared on Twitter by Sykes revealed she "hadn’t taken the race route".

She also claimed there was a section where Dr Zakrzewski's "HR/cadence/speed didn’t add up".

Sykes complained the runner's actions "completely takes the p**s out of the race organisers, fellow competitors and fair sport", adding: "How can someone who knows they have cheated cross a finish line, collect a medal/trophy and have their photos taken?!"

After starting out as a race doctor, Zakrzewski took up extreme running herself, setting a string of records.

Her feats culminated in covering a record 255 miles at the Taipei Ultramarathon in February - although the mark only stood for a month before being beaten by an American rival.

"We can all relate to having to drop out of a race, but what you don’t do is start up again and cross the finish line as though you’ve done nothing wrong," one leading competitor told the Daily Mail.

Keith Johnstone, who finished 46th in the updated ranking, said: "If somebody doesn’t complete the course they should be named, shamed and disqualified."

Colin Rushton, who came 59th, said: "Such a crazy thing to do in a race that has no prize money or qualifies you into anything.

"I just need another 50-odd to be disqualified though before I end up on the podium."