Exclusive | NYC marathon runner who high-fived Ariana Grande in viral video is faker who stole French execs race number

This is a step too far.A wannabe influencer who went viral for high-fiving Ariana Grande at the New York City Marathon had snuck into the race by stealing the identity of a high-level executive from France.Mike Clarke, an online personality, has been banned from next year’s race after he made a fake version of banking boss Nicolas Bourot’s No.4207 bib to jump the course and have a close encounter with the “God is a Woman” singer.And though Bourot slammed Clarke’s actions as “not fair” — considering all he did to secure his legitimate number — the jogging fake refused to apologize for his dirty dash to the finish line.“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,” Clarke told The Post in a text Wednesday.He even bragged in a written message: “After race, I received a medal but gave it to a kid afterwards haha!” The content creator told The Post he picked the number that turned out to be Bourot’s because of its attachment to a friend who died.

He said he had no idea it was connected to the Chief Security Officer for Groupe BPCE, the second-largest banking group in France.“My friend who passed wanted to run all the world majors and was hoping to do New York in 2028.Did it in honor of him … obviously for fun,” Clarke said.Clarke claims his counterfeit bib was so good that he was able to run the entirety of the 26.2-mile race, despite the beefed-up security stationed at the start lines.He even went on social media to brag that he had snuck into the highly exclusive race, even admitting in a now-deleted YouTube video that he “wasn’t officially registered.”Clarke posted videos across various social media channels about his race, including high-fiving Grande near the finish line — which went viral when it was shared by a popular account.He even appeared in the marathon gallery pictures, but under Bourot’s name —...