At Women's Marathon, Fastest Didn't Win (this is fucked UP).

[Shakespeare]

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.

But she didn't win.

It doesn't get much simpler than a footrace. All it takes is a starting line, a finish line and a clock. You fire the gun and the first person to the end of the course is the winner.

However, as the marathon officials said to O'Connell - not so fast.

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.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/21/BAUC13L3GQ.DTL&nopu=1

[Gormy Cuss]

1. Elitist decision.

:hi:

It's pretty sad that they rule this way without making it clear to the other competitors ahead of time that they can't possibly win or place in the money. It's not as if she Rosie Ruiz'ed it after all.

[KitchenWitch]

2. That is so many levels of fucked up, I do not know where to begin.

x(

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. Geez, that's kinda like how some of the networks judge presidential debates.

"Well, Biden clearly had the better answers - they were nuanced, informative, and detailed - but Palin, see, she only needed to get through the debate without drooling on herself or losing a limb, so she wins."

:wtf:

[petronius]

4. That explanation about the 'elite' runners not knowing there was competition

makes sense, in a weak sort of way. However, that's the sort of thing that has to be spelled out in advance - any rational person is going to understand the concept of a race as shortest time = winner. Really, if the elite runners were willing to assume that nobody in the main pack was a threat, it's their right make that assumption, and they should bear the brunt if it's wrong.

IMO, the declared winners should voluntarily rearrange the prizes, and if they don't the race organizers have to suck it up, admit they made a mistake, call in the awards, and give them out correctly...

[KamaAina]

5. Since when is the Supreme Court judging marathons?

:evilgrin:

[mainegreen]

6. Does it cost more to register as elite?

There is some possibility that the elites pay more for the right to vie for actual cash prizes.

[DarkTirade]

7. ... wha?!?

Seriously. What?

[LisaM]

8. Wow, that's a tough one

I think there is some credence to the theory that if the so-called elite runners had actually run against her, it might have improved their times - I mean, it's partially the competitive angle that makes athletes elite in the first place.

I know that I once did a run (just a 4-mile) and there was only space in the fast group by the time I registered. So I started with them, and I have to say that it significantly changed my time. I looked at the clock at the halfway point and was shocked that my pace was something between 7:15 and 7:22 per mile, which for me was quite fast. The mental aspect of it slowed me down at once - whereas if I'd never looked at the clock I probably would have kept my pace up the whole time. But it's quite true that you will run to the level of your competition.

I think they need to do something for her - but I think she needs to start registering in the elite group, too.

It's a no-win for everyone the way it turned out. I mean, she also did have the fastest time. I don't think it's very clear cut.

[Oeditpus Rex]

10. It would likely also have improved *her* time

The USTFA dude's reasoning works both ways.

[Shakespeare]

14. Yup. Excellent point. n/t

[LostinVA]

12. Agreed -- I've run a few races in my time, and I'm friends with some elite ultrarunners

Was it just a great day for her, OR does she have a history of slamming times?

[Shakespeare]

15. In the interview, she says she had an unusually good day.

O'Connell, who describes herself as "a pretty good runner," had never managed to break three hours in five previous marathons. But as soon as she started at 7 a.m. Sunday, she knew it was her day. In fact, when she crossed the finish line 26.2 miles later, her time of 2:55:11 was so unexpectedly fast that she burst into tears.

"I ran my best time by like 12 minutes, which is insane," she said.

[SwissTony]

9. Elite women don't run 3:06 marathons

Paula Radcliffe has ran the fastest women's marathon at just over 2:15. The tenth fastest (according to Wikipedia) is just under 2:21.

[Haole Girl]

11. Excuse me?

I am completely confused. Really. I'd probably have a complete meltdown if I ran that far, that fast, and had the fastest time & still didn't win. That is fucked up. :-(

[LisaM]

13. The whole thing is very unusual

A real issue is that the organizers didn't account for this. Surely in the many thousands of marathons (and even half marathons and regular races) over the years, this must have happened before. It seems that they only looked at the times based on who crossed the finish line first.

Of course, I don't have access to the rules. Maybe there's something in there that clears this up (e.g., maybe you are supposed to cross the finish line first). I'm not really on one side or the other, but they seem to be staggering the groups at least 20 minutes apart. What if someone in a third or fourth group beat everyone's time? You'd have to wait till the last runner crossed to compare all the times.

I'm assuming that everyone started from the same place, too. I did a race once where the competitive runners (those who'd specifically entered to compete) started in a different place altogether than my group (corporate teams) did. There was a special winner's division for the corporate teams, but if you wanted to go for the overall win, you had to be in that division. I can't speak to the rules of THIS race, because I don't know what they were.

I did a stair climb like this once, too. There were people who did the competitive portion, and then there were those who were just climbing to raise money (my group). As it turned out, my friend and I got up there before a lot of the timed climbers, but it wouldn't have occurred to me to then demand that we get a time - because we didn't enter in that group.

[harmonicon]

16. wow, what bullshit

[DS1]

17. YO! Shakespeare! Olberman covered this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETzeh3hNX5E

:yourock:

[Shakespeare]

18. Yay!

A little Olbermann outrage added to the equation is always a good thing. :thumbsup: