Ha! Love this story, especially since I've been a competitive distance runner for most of my life. Despite training my ass off for years, the most I've ever won is 50 bucks at a small town road race. Here I am running 6:20 p/mile for a marathon, getting jack shit and you pull out one 7min mile to win $1500!! That is insane.
I think I need to quit this racing BS and start hustling people like your friend:)