Dman for the win wrote:
Just glad David Roche fixed this for everyone. please give him the credit he deserves!
lol yes exactly, what a hero
2026 USATF Half Marathon Championships - LIVE! CHAOS. Lead women taken off course, McClain loses win and $20k!!!!
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We have changed the title of the thread after the race ended.
We now know what went wrong. You can read all about it here:
https://www.letsrun.com/news/2...
Our 1st article the mishap is here:
https://www.letsrun.com/news/2...
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Apparently, getting led off course happens in other endurance sports as well. No redos.21
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Jonathan Gault wrote:
sp2 wrote:
It's not a great take at all. I love Jon --he's the only really good thing about the whole site. But here he's just being an apologist for Kenah and the ATC (and also the USATF, by implication).
Their working really hard to blame it on the 'cop down' is bullsh*t. It completely ignores the key facts, and just takes Kenah at his word. That's not journalism; that's transcription.
Why'd the men go straight ten minutes before? Because at least one person actually paid attention and did his *job*.
Why the hell did the cop on the motorcycle take that left? I didn't hear any remotely acceptable explanation for that. He's obviously tasked with being sure he stays on course; that's his only freaking job, for Chrissake.
Why did nobody from ATC either fly to the site of the problem to make sure the runners got through that section okay when they heard this happened --or immediately get someone on the radio who was closer and make sure they made sure??
Why did he gloss over the fact that they've had two other similar massive screw-ups in the recent past? I mean, he mentions it, which is nice, but the tone of the whole piece is *overwhelmingly* taking for granted that it wasn't at all their fault, and no one could've prevented it.
Don't you think it's one hell of a coincidence they do this kind of thing THREE times in a couple of years?? If you're just attributing that to 'bad luck' you're punting on doing your job.
And I assume, of course, that Wejo and Rojo and Jon are probably all pretty good friends with Kenah --and maybe Kenah's a lovely guy, I don't know, but that's got nothing to do with it.
LR has done this many times before: accepting the 'word' of some big figure they're friends with, when the evidence points the other way. (Paula Radcliffe jumps to mind as one obvious example. Shelby.)
It's great to support the sport, but you're not doing that when you help the people that f***ed up avoid any blame. You're just making it more likely sh*t like this will continue to happen in the future.
Really bad form. Real journalism's about *critical thinking.* You guys did not do any of that here.
I appreciate the feedback. Seriously. You're absolutely right that real journalism is about critical thinking.
And I've thought a lot about the situation and I can see why the screwup occurred. I think one person made a mistake here (the person driving the police motorcyle for the lead women) but I think you're glossing over how weird the situation is.
Consider all the things that had to happen for this to occur:
-A police officer is struck by a vehicle
-It happens a block away from the race course
-It happens five minutes before the elite men and 15 mins before the elite women are meant to go through the intersection
-It happens at a pivotal point in the raceWhy did the cop take the left? I included Kenah's explanation:
“We believe that [the lead police motorcycle] and then our pace vehicle, because the cones were not spread as they normally would be and because you do not normally drive across that footbridge, believed that that was where he needed to go. And because it was also moving in the opposite direction of where the emergency was,” Kenah said.
Under normal circumstances, do you think the athletes run off course? I certainly don't. But there was a legitimate medical emergency a block away. Could the response/communication have been a bit better? Probably. But I'm way less inclined to rip an organization when a mistake happens when someone panics and makes a bad decision in the midst of a chaotic situation. As opposed to a mistake happening because the plan of action was faulty to begin with.
Also: I can't remember another screwup like this where the organization releases such a detailed summary of events. And then Rich Kenah, the CEO of ATC, reached out to me proactively to answer any questions (that basically never happens in these situations).
You might say they're doing that in order to generate favorable coverage. I call it accountability.
(And for the record, I know Rich a little. I think I've talked to him in person once or twice -- definitely at World XC this year and I think briefly at the '20 Trials. I've interviewed him a few times. I respect him, and I was massively impressed by how he staged the 2020 Trials. I wouldn't call us friends.)
As for the two other screwups, the Atlanta Marathon being short was a legitimate mistake and ATC deserves criticism for it. There was some last-minute construction but they still screwed up. But 2023 Peachtree -- did you watch the video? The vehicle pulls off course very late in the race, which is common in road racing, and the finish line is clearly in sight at that point. I'm placing more blame on the athlete in that situation.
But my aim with the article was to lay out what we know and let readers form their own judgment. I thought that by mentioning ATC's explanation and noting their prior mistakes, that I did that. You clearly feel I feel short.
Thanks for the serious response, Jon. I didn't have a chance to look at this till now, but I appreciate your taking the time and effort.
And some of your points are relevant and valid, I think. I did see the end of '23 Peachtree (though the only video I found of it really sucked), and you're right, that looks like it was probably a horrible mental lapse by her.
If that's true (that they really hold no blame at all for that one), then it's only *two* horrible f***-ups in two years, which is still pretty awful, and clearly has to make you wonder about a systemic problem there.
On the *KEY* point, however, it still seems to me neither you nor they have given any better explanation than before: WHY did the cop on the motorcycle take that horribly wrong left?
Your answer (and Kenah's), “We believe that [the lead police motorcycle] and then our pace vehicle, because the cones were not spread as they normally would be and because you do not normally drive across that footbridge, believed that that was where he needed to go. And because it was also moving in the opposite direction of where the emergency was,” Kenah said.
doesn't really seem to make any more sense to me than it did initially. It's basically a non-answer.
'You don't normally drive across the bridge?' Who doesn't? The motorcycle doesn't?
Then what does he normally do? I'm pretty sure it's not to take a sudden left, and continue to lead the race a freaking mile off the course, is it? So that seems completely irrelevant.
And the fact that a few cones had been removed and not replaced is, again, a terrible screw-up by itself. Obviously everyone knew the damn race was coming up behind them, and if they'd just had to shift some cones to let a cop-car through (or whatever), then obviously *someone* needed to be paying the tiny bit of attention required to realize they needed to take the 60 seconds it would've taken to move them *back* into place.
And then "it was also moving in the opposite direction of where the emergency was??"
What the hell does that even mean?? The accident happened behind them, right? Like a block or two further back on the course? (I don't know if I've seen that explicitly described, but it sounds that way.) So then the runners and lead vehicles at that point are past that scene and going away from it, aren't they?
Why the hell would that explain or justify the cop's taking that drastically wrong left??
Either way they'd be going away from the accident, and I'd think they're going more away by crossing the bridge (like they were supposed to) and getting out or the way of any vehicular traffic (though that all seems quite irrelevant at that point anyway).
And, again, the men had just come through a few minutes before, and they'd been led the correct way, right? If they managed to get it right 3 mins after the accident, why the hell shouldn't they manage to get it right again 13 mins after??
What justification is there supposed to be for this guy --ten minutes later, and after the race had already continued proceeding correctly-- to do the opposite of what the previous guy had done, and suddenly lead the women horribly off-course for a ridiculously long time???
And why did *none* of the other drivers notice anything, do anything, say anything, make any attempt whatever to stop this disaster from proceeding for 5 freaking minutes??
You guys are still deflecting it all by dumping it all on the shoulders of this one guy, and then basically 'absolving' him with a mish-mosh of explanatory factors that don't really explain anything.
It still sounds like neither you nor Kenah has really explained it at all --just provided a sort of word-salad of 'reasons' we're supposed to accept without, once again, any real analysis or critical thought.
And what's been done since then to 'correct' this catastrophe? I think I saw a headline that someone (ATC, I assume?) had agreed to pay the top 3 their prize money, so that's nice.
What about contract bonuses, sponsor bonuses, potential new endorsements, potential new race invitations, appearance-fees, etc.????
Is anyone doing anything about any of that? If USATF has to make guesses at what all of that might have amounted to, and to make them wildly liberal to err on the side of fairness, then that's goddamn well what should happen.
And are they still gonna pay the prize money to all the 'official' top finishers as well?
Cuz they damn sure need to do that, too.
My god, the way they've screwed Jess McClain all by herself in the last couple years should be enough to take a hefty chunk out of Max Siegel's paycheck.
(Maybe he'd have to fly business-class a couple of times. Oh, the horror.)
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The more I think about it, the more completely inadequate it seems.
If they had *meant* to SHIFT to course in the middle of the race without any warning to anyone, then *obviously*, at the very least, they would've had to get *someone* (race crew, or cops, or probably both) to step out into middle of the (now closed) path towards the bridge, and yell, scream, wave their arms, wildly gesticulate to the approaching lead vehicles and racers that they have to turn LEFT right here, and can't continue straight.
(Obvious as well is that they definitely would've wanted to grab some cones *immediately*, and spread them across the road towards the bridge there, to make it very clear you *can't* go that way, and have turn the way I'm steering you. That'd take maybe 60 or 90 seconds to do a minimal job of.)
None of the 'explanation' Rich and you have given works. It's all just deflection.
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I probably should let Jonathan respond, but in response to one of your questions, the way I read it was that the emergency was not behind them, but on the cross street (Ted Turner Drive?), which was part of the marathon course, a block to the right of the street the half runners were on. When the driver turned left, that took him more away from the emergency.
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JamesD2 wrote:
I probably should let Jonathan respond, but in response to one of your questions, the way I read it was that the emergency was not behind them, but on the cross street (Ted Turner Drive?), which was part of the marathon course, a block to the right of the street the half runners were on. When the driver turned left, that took him more away from the emergency.
I think this is correct, but in general I agree with SP2 here. SP2's point is all the stronger where it was not onluy the motorbike but also the car. USATF haven't said (but it's not clear if journalists have asked, and if not why not), but there would presumably be multiple people in the car, including a non-driving official in contact with the central organisers.
This proper analysis is obscured by surprising incurious acceptance by journalists of a vague story about an emergency and some "confusion".
Hence the list of questions I posed before (see p18 of this thread) which USATF’s statements don’t answer (and it is not clear that any journalist has posed):1. Who was the pace car driver? Are they a USATF official? What is their experience/qualifications?
2. Was the driver alone in the car? Who else was there? What was their role/experience/qualifications?
3. What was the means of communication between the pace car and the on-course officials/police? How was this supposed to work in the event of an emergency or diversion?
4. We are told the driver had "some basic understanding" of an emergency - from whom did he get that understanding and how? Given that his only role is to drive the route, did he ask whether this affected the route, or not? If he did ask, what was the answer? If he didn't ask, why not (and why did he turn)?
It seems to me that those are all questions which any independent and inquisitive journalist would ask - and would then either report the answers or would say that USATF was refusing to answer those questions.
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I haven't seen this posted yet. Great perspective from the mindset of Allie O from pre-race, during the race and post-race, including her perspective on the debacle. Worth watching.
This post was edited 2 minutes after it was posted.21 -
Podcast in 2021 wrote:
This is too bad wrote:
ATC/USATF should pay the "diverted three" the same amount that 1st/2nd/3rd got.
PERIOD.
ATLANTA TRACK CLUB REVIEW OF THE 2026 USATF HALF MARATHON CHAMPIONSHIPS
ATLANTA - MARCH 3, 2026 -On Sunday, Atlanta Track Club issued a statement regarding the misdirection that affected leaders of the women's field at the USATF Half Marathon Championships who went off course. At that time, we committed to conduct a full review to determine how and why the lead vehicle left the official course. Below is a summary of our findings:
The intersection where the athletes went off course had been staged according to the operational plan with traffic cones and assigned police personnel.
Thirteen minutes before the lead women reached that intersection, a report of an officer down was broadcast across the assigned Atlanta Police Department frequency. The officer was reported to be down one block from the race course.
The intersection where the officer was reported down was surrounded on three sides by the race course. No details on the cause of the officer's distress were yet available.
As per their training, the police personnel assigned to the race responded to aid the officer down and to support the arrival of additional first responders around and through the race course.
This action left a number of key race intersections, including the one where the wrong turn occurred, unattended for a brief period.
In a well-orchestrated response, Atlanta Police Department backfilled this intersection with personnel who would help keep runners safe while helping first responders through the intersection to reach the officer down.
The lead vehicle driver for the women's race knew the course was to continue over the footbridge. But because the intersection and the traffic cones had not been reset for the race due to the arrival of emergency vehicles, the driver followed a police motorcycle off course - believing the race was being rerouted.
The backfilled officer at that intersection, who was not assigned to the race, did not know that the race's lead vehicles were going to use a footbridge that does not normally allow cars on it, so was not equipped to prevent the wrong turn.
Atlanta Track Club's position remains unchanged: We are responsible for the integrity of these championships. We regret that Jess McClain, Emma Grace Hurley and Ednah Kurgat were impacted by this incident and were unable to be recognized as the top three finishers reflective of their performance on the course.
Atlanta Track Club has offered to match the prize money as follows: McClain to receive the equivalent of ($20,000) first-place prize money. Hurley and Kurgat will split the combined total of second- and- third-place prize money ($9,750) because they were shoulder-to-shoulder when they left the race course.
Atlanta Track Club also recognizes and appreciates the swift and professional response of law enforcement, who prioritized the safety of both the injured officer and the more than 11,000 participants on the course.
The Fulton County Sheriff's officer involved in the emergency incident was working for the race and had been on a motorcycle. He was transported to Grady Hospital and released later that day.
Below is the minute-by-minute summary of the events that led to the misdirection:
6:00 AM
Cones staged; lined up but not set in final position at Nelson Street and Ted Turner Drive. Cones were purposely not set in position because the road was not going to be closed until ~8:00 a.m. and would accommodate race and on-race vehicular traffic up until that time.7:00 AM
Race-assigned police officer arrives at post at Nelson Street and Ted Turner Drive.7:59 AM
Handcycle lead athlete successfully navigates intersection onto the footbridge with race-assigned motorcycles and bike escorts.8:05 AM
Officer (riding a motorcycle) working the race is struck by vehicle at the corner of Mitchell Street and Ted Turner Drive. This intersection is 300 feet from Nelson Street and Ted Turner Drive.8:07 AM
Report of an officer down at the corner of Mitchell Street and Ted Turner Drive is broadcast by Atlanta Police dispatcher. Officer's condition is unknown.8:07 AM
Race-assigned police officers at the corner of Nelson Street and Ted Turner Drive and from other intersections respond, running toward Mitchell Street and Ted Turner Drive - leaving the race intersection at Nelson Street and Ted Turner Drive unattended.
Officer had not yet repositioned cones to prevent any wrong turns before moving down the street to aid fellow officer.8:08 AM - 8:10 AM
Atlanta Police Dispatch announces that an officer has been struck by a vehicle and that they are searching for a vehicle that may have fled the scene.8:10 AM
Lead male athletes successfully navigate intersection onto the footbridge with race-assigned motorcycles, broadcast motorcycles and bike escorts.8:11 AM - 8:14 AM
Race intersection remains unattended as the rest of the men's USATF Half Marathon competitors are crossing onto footbridge while on-duty police, Atlanta Fire and Grady EMS swarm the area.8:15 AM
On-duty officer (not related to the race) arrives at the intersection of Nelson Street and Ted Turner Drive in a marked APD vehicle and helps manage the flow of emergency vehicles through the intersection and prevents other cars from driving toward the scene of the officer down.8:20 AM
Injured officer being loaded into ambulance for transport to Grady Hospital.8:20 AM
Motorcycle, pace car and four (4) women's USATF Half Marathon competitors incorrectly turn left at the intersection of Nelson Street and Ted Turner Drive. They do not go straight onto the footbridge. The race-related officer(s) assigned to guide them to the footbridge are a block away attending to the injured officer.8:21 AM
25 seconds after the first female athlete goes off course, the first race-assigned officer who aided the downed officer arrives back to the intersection. Police motorcycle accelerates, catches the four (4) women, who turn around and eventually rejoin the race at the same point they exited the race course.8:22 AM
Additional race-assigned officers return to their post at Nelson Street and Ted Turner Drive and place cones to prevent any further wrong turns.From the moment this happened, our focus was on doing right by the athletes. Jessica, Emma Grace, and Ednah had clearly separated themselves in the race and we are sorry they did not get to celebrate their accomplishment by breaking the tape. On behalf of everyone at USA Track & Field, I want to thank World Athletics. Their council and leadership are committed to a fair and athlete-centered solution that preserves the integrity of competition while recognizing the reality of what occurred in Atlanta.
Max Siegel
CEO, USATFhttps://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1375989757905729&set=a.638977718273607
March 25, 2026
World Athletics has made the exceptional decision to allow additional female USA Track and Field (USATF) athletes to run at the 2026 World Road Running Championships (WRRC) following the extraordinary nature of an incident at the recent USATF Half-Marathon Championships that acted as a qualifier for the upcoming event in Copenhagen.
World Athletics has agreed on a strictly one-off basis that USATF will be able to select seven athletes rather than the usual four athletes for the women’s half marathon event at the WRRC in September.
An extraordinary set of circumstances at the half marathon championships in Atlanta, Georgia, culminated in the breakaway lead pack of three athletes in the women’s race (Jess McClain, Emma Grace Hurley, Ednah Kurgat) being led off course and finishing outside of the automatic qualifying positions.
In working to find a solution, World Athletics has been sympathetic to the impacted athletes who would otherwise miss out on competing at the WRRC Copenhagen 2026, and understanding of the unprecedented situation USATF – one our leading Member Federations – has found itself in.
USATF will select their four fastest athletes to be their scoring athletes, while non-scoring athletes (meaning they cannot win medals, receive prize money, nor count towards the team result – but will receive world ranking points based on their final finishing position) will take the three additional places. The three non-scoring athletes will wear USA national kit but of a different style to the four scoring athletes.PRESS RELEASE 25 MARCH 2026
World Athletics statement on USATF participation at World Athletics Road Running Championships Copenhagen 2600
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