2026 USATF Half Marathon Championships - LIVE! CHAOS. Lead women taken off course, McClain loses win and $20k!!!!

This coverage is such trash "how hum, sometimes races are weird, oh guess there is a protest or something, goodbye now"

Imagine a real sport behaving like this.

1:04:40 is when McClain and others noticed the error ... I think 1:03:51 is the wrong turn.

curiously want to know how much distance extra did the leaders run now

Just saw the replay, damn this is so horrible. What a cockup.

McClain holds a B.A. and a M.A. from Stanford University, by the way.

Atlanta Track Club has turned off the comments on the Live Stream replay on Youtube.

Worked out great for Ostrander. Outsprinted McClain for that 8th place paycheck.

Atlanta Track Club had nobody moderating the live chat but quickly shutdown the comments in the stream VOD.

What an absolute joke. I woke up at 7:30am central time, turned on the TV and the race was already over. Why start the race so early? Do they purposely want to discourage spectators from attending or viewing on tv?

I’m watching for 5 minutes, the commentators say there is a protest and that staying on the course is the runners responsibility, and bye. Show ends abruptly. Spike ball competitions are better organized and marketed than this.

4 of top 5 men in Hokas. Not a full strength field, obviously. But their race shoes have come a long way.

races start early in Hotlanta.

Not arguing your point - spot on, but this is pretty normal on a replay. Original (viewers')comments on the live-stream were pretty honest overall. Just a couple of backwater trolls trying to bait everyone else.

IMO the replay itself is sufficient to tell the story. We can all have our say here.

And yes a massive F-UP for a race of this caliber.

I think once one of the Superbowl teams was taken to the wrong stadium by the bus driver.

The other team scored 3 TDs before they got to the right stadium.

If USATF was capable of being embarrassed they would have addressed their appalling leadership years ago. They continue to run an organization swollen with incompetent, in-fighting leaders, mismanaged athlete support, hugely over-compensated executives, and meager support from knowledgeable track and field fans. It survives because grass roots and college programs continue to develop talent that performs well on the national and international stages *despite* USATF’s blundering.

When Max S. was asked for a comment on this monumental SNAFU he responded: “The rule
book clearly says that, when race organizers, lead car, local police or spectators indicate a wrong turn, it is the responsibility of the runner to follow the prescribed course.” He then chuckled and added: “And they say I don’t know anything about running…”

I'm a big supporter of Atlanta Track Club, but this is an inexcusable mistake. Huge implications from the finishing order and can't help but feel that Jess McClain is always getting the short end of the stick.

Last year they messed up a turnaround on the marathon course and none of the times counted towards BQ. I think a head may need to roll for two years in a row of this.

looks like they took a right turn at 11.5 miles where they would of ran in the opposite direction at the start

Wow someone needs to step in and correct this and give the top 3 back to them.