At Women's Marathon, fastest time didn't win

[rick130]

At Women's Marathon, fastest time didn't win (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/21/BAUC13L3GQ.DTL&nopu=1)


There were over 20,000 competitors in Sunday's Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco. And 24-year-old Arien O'Connell, a fifth-grade teacher from New York City, ran the fastest time of any of the women.



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But she didn't win......


...........While O'Connell had the greatest run of her life and covered the course faster than any woman, she was told she couldn't be declared the winner because she didn't run with the "elite" group who were given a 20-minute head start.

Read the article, but IMO the excuses given by the race director are disingenuous at best.
By their reckoning no Rally or Off Road car or bike race is a race, as no one starts together, or a bike time trial isn't a race either. :rolleyes:
She ran the same course as the 'elite' group, just started 20 minutes behind, and was disadvantaged by running in the pack !

[Phoenix]

That's crazy, regardless of where she ran, she got the fastest time, she should have been declared the winner!!!

[camel_landy]

A similar thing happened in the Auckland marathon back in 2005.

The favorite to win the race was actually in the toilet when the race started and so she too went over the start line with the pack. She tried to catch up with the leaders but didn't quite make it. So, although she wasn't the first across the line, she did actually run a faster time!!

Clicky... (http://www.live2run.com/MarathonGuide/news/stories/2005/Auc%5F051102%5F1.html)

The race was won by an old friend of mine... :D

M