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

Holy f**ing s*** man. How will we ever improve when this is commonplace in our freaking sport.

Agree. It would show great sportswomanship if the runners told the officials that they wanted this. Also make ATC payout runners for both scenarios as a penalty.

it is possible. the rule is asinine. if they want to do the right thing they'll do exactly what that poster suggested. but of course they won't because there is the 'rule'. ffs if that's the rule, then what the hell is the point of even having a lead car. runners should know the entire course themselves huh? the LEAD car leads them in the wrong direction but it is the runners fault? ya that makes sense. lmao

truly pathetic. this is a professional national championship event for our sport and the organizers (idk if this blame is for USATF or Atlanta TC for the car issues speciflcally), but regardless, someone cant even drive correctly on the course and causes a problem like this. PATHETIC. award the leading women at that point with placing/money and FIRE whoever mucked up the lead car driving. its inexcusable.

I watch almost all of the USATF races throughout the year and it’s shocking how often this happens..

not sure financially if it's possible to reimburse for the wrong turn to Ednah, Emma and Jess (they should though) - I feel like the rankings is going to be maintained

but bare minimum has to be to grant them the US Team slots for the HM in the Road Running Champs (which is the 2nd big complication here). if USATF stands firm and not grant them first rights to the Road Running Champs slots, this is actually very very awful

What a joke our sport is - at the national level and local level. I've run multiple races where the course was incorrectly marked or wasn't marked at all. The excuse that it's the runner's responsibility to know the course is ridiculous. Making split decisions while running is 2nd nature in the NFL. But requiring a runner to remember a map while they're in the late stage of a race is laughable.

Seems like the runners who technically finished ahead of McClain would decline the spot. No one was going to pass her. How could the women ahead of her feel good about accepting a spot under those circumstances. I feel so bad for Jess McClain. She has been right there in great form more than once now and been screwed by something weird. That is a lot of hard work with no payoff and must feel so disgusting.

It seems that they were supposed to run straight when Nelson Street crosses Ted Turner DR and turns into a pedestrian bridge. Turning was probably more intuitive to who ever was in lead vehicle.

But isn’t there also a rule that you have to follow race officials instructions . The officials told them to go off course effectively.

Disagree strongly. Look, I feel bad for the three original leaders. I think they should be monetarily compensated.

However, runners always have the responsibility to know the course. Full stop. This isn’t new.

Local 5Ks—know the course. Club, middle school, and high school XC—know the course. Trail running—know the course. All road races—know the course.

Yes, they may have followed the lead vehicle in front of them, but in many races those change off regularly. You can’t rely on it unless explicitly told so, and even then you shouldn’t fully rely on it.

Know. The. Course.

At the same time, the ATC—and I love them as a former member!—should compensate those ladies for their screw up. They are jointly responsible.

I think what surprises me is all the folks who are like “give it to the original 3 leaders” probably have a large percentage overlap with those who sneer at participation trophies. Giving the ladies who went the wrong way the spots when it is their job to know and run the course is a participation trophy.

They ran more than 400 meters off course (and then back again), that's actually insane.

i was on the course as a bike escort in the Men’s Elite race. here’s my experience with the race and perspective on the issue that happened in the Women’s race.

i ended riding the last part of the race with the 3rd/4th place runners (Muhumed/Hicks). the course is definitely on the more technical side, especially towards the end as it re-enters downtown. the first big issue was at mile 11.7. following the right turn on Forsyth, the course crosses Marietta St. at the Marathon/Half Marathon course ~1.05 mile marker. as we approached the crossing, police were holding the mass participation race as the back of the pack runners were still coming through. this worked out alright, but i’m not sure how the Elite Men a minute or two back navigated that.

at this point the turns were frequent enough that we could not always see the leading duo. at mile marker 12.03 there is a right on Nelson St. at this point, the TV moto went straight (off course). i shouted at the runners to turn and Muhumud ran off course for only two or three strides before he realized the issue and made the correct turn (this was not shown in the broadcast). at this point i moved in front of the two runners to provide course guidance (i had the course loaded in my bike computer to ensure that i didn’t make any mistakes).

one block after the right turn onto Nelson St. (and our TV moto disappeared) the course crosses Ted Turner Dr and continues onto a pedestrian only bridge (mile marker 12.1). this is the moment where the Women’s leaders were taken off course. their moto turned left rather than continuing straight. this happened at 1:03:21 on the race clock (1:28:26 in the youtube video). the leading trio of women realized their issue at 1:04:40 on the race clock, so they ran an addition ~2:40 (assuming even pacing). you can see them turning back onto the bridge and returning to the correct course at 1:06:03 on the race clock.

so what happened and who is at fault? unfortunately, i think it was a lot of failures all happening at the same time. the moto turned the wrong way. (going straight onto the bridge does seem “wrong” for a vehicle as it is pedestrian only however when i crossed this bridge on my bike a few minutes earlier i noticed some police motos on the bridge, and when they rejoin the course the TV moto does cross the bridge with the runners.) none of the police or volunteers in the vicinity were quick enough to alert the runners of the issue (the police seemed solely focused on directing vehicle traffic and letting cars pass when there was a gap in the race). and, i hate to say it, but the runner is responsible for knowing the route.* this point i say with an asterisk* because if i was leading a race and i “knew” the route but was following a motorcycle that should be assumed to be leading me along the correct course (why in the world would the TV moto peel off the race course a mile from the finish?) in the heat of the moment, i would follow the moto. so, yes, technically the runner must know the course, but i think that is B.S. in a situation like this when a race official guides you off course.

how should USATF correct this issue… i’m not sure. all i know is that it really stinks for the all the “official” top finishers in the prize money, and for these three runners who were led astray. (it’s unclear to me if 4th/5th/etc. were also led off course, or if it was only the top three at the time.

disclaimer: i speak for myself and not on behalf of ATC or USATF.

It's not Molly Born's or the other athletes' job to fix this. She earned her spot under the rules. If she declines the spot, it just goes down the line to the next person. She has no power to designate who should go instead of her.

And I strongly disagree with you. That is utter BS to say a person is supposed to have a photographic memory and remember street names/turns, an entire map for a race. You have to know how absurd you sound by suggesting this. Also, the point of a lead car is to LEAD THE WAY. Runners would look crazy, and potentially be yelled at by volunteers to get back on track if they just suddenly decided to veer off where the lead car was going. It also could put them in danger.

Its road racing not orienteering.

Are you really saying that if there was an course change due to an emergency, and there were officials and a lead car guiding runners to make a detour, that everyone who takes that detour is now wrong and everyone should ignore the officials and run the original route?

The first rule, before “Know the course,”should be to follow the instructions of the officials at all times.

How hard is it to put cones or other markers along the course to ensure athletes don't go down the wrong streets. They should be there anyway to block traffic. I agree these ladies at minimum deserve prize money. USATF need to find it in the budget because the actual winners need to be paid too.

They were following a lead car not a course official that would have been different.

Lead cars are hired by the organization.