An article in the San Francisco Chronicle told the story of 24-year-old Arien O'Connell, who set a pr by 12 minutes and had the fastest time of the day.
Unfortunately for her, despite the fact she beat the next woman by 11 minutes on the hilly course, it wasn't good enough for first place. Officials decided that since the chosen "elite" runners started 20 minutes before the main pack, and Arien wasn't part of that group, that her time didn't count towards awards.
This is absurd. It's not her fault the elite didn't run a faster time. The marathon wasn't advertised as two separate races, just different starting times. Arien knew she was in good shape, but understandably didn't think she was elite and didn't apply for that status.
And runners in the U.S. wonder why we aren't taken more seriously as a major sport? Well, here is one reason why. This is a joke.
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