Have you heard this little bit of info (controversy) that came out of the Nike Women’s Marathon this past weekend? The woman with the fastest time, Arien O’Connell, WASN’T declared the winner. She ran a 2:55:11! The first place award was given to a runner with a 3:06 time. Race officials said it’s because she didn’t register to run with the “elites”. How can this judgment be right?
Read the article from the San Francisco Chronicle
True, O’Connell has a great race story and an awesome PR to her name… but I still think that’s not fair that the race organizers aren’t recognizing her in some way. Maybe one of Nike’s competitors should swoop in and give her a bunch of prize money! 😉
Edited: There is now a petition to make Arien O’Connell the winner of the Nike Women’s Marathon.
Edited #2: Apparently Nike has heard the cries of the public and are rectifying the situation. Here is the official statement from Nike (as copied from Runner’s World).
Nike is announcing today that it recognizes Arien O’Connell as a winner in last weekend’s Nike Women’s Marathon completing the full race in 2:55:11. She shattered her previous time and achieved an amazing accomplishment.
Arien will receive the same recognition and prize, including a Tiffany & Co. trophy, the full marathon elite group winner received. Arien was unfortunately not immediately recognized as a race winner because she did not start the race with the elite running group, which is required by USATF standards. Because of their earlier start time, the runners in the elite group had no knowledge of the outstanding race Arien was running and could not adjust their strategies accordingly.
Learning from the unique experience in this year’s race, Nike has decided today to eliminate the elite running group from future Nike Women’s Marathons. Next year, all runners will run in the same group and all will be eligible to win.
Nike has a proven track record of supporting athletes and we’re proud to be able to honor Arien and other athletes who surpass their goals and achieve great accomplishments.
I’m glad Nike has stepped up and admitted they screwed up on this one. Again, Go Arien! You totally rocked the race!
Jill Will Run 
They should give her the win! She had the fastest time-no doubts! Doesn’t really matter if she wasn’t in the elite group! Running is pretty straightforward in that sense-a start and a finish and a time!
What a bunch of crap! How is this a rule? You have to be “elite” to win a race? I wonder if all marathons operate this way. I ran the Nike women’s half this year and if this is something limited to their race, I might not want to do it again…
Absolutely ridiculous! Only an elite can win? What the hell kind of rule is that? I don’t understand–she ran faster but she lost. BS if you ask me.
I couldn’t believe this when I read this! How absurd! And like one of the writers or commenters said, what’s she supposed to do, slow down because she doesn’t consider herself to be elite (just a strong runner) or should the “elite” be told they need to pick up the pace and not slack because they are “elite”. Whatever…
Being a Brooks fan, as I am, I think they should totally swoop in and pick her up.
I just read this today! What the heck? I hope they change their minds. I’m still getting caught up with blog reading this week. I noticed that Nike did not post their results on Sunday too. For a little bit I was wondering if they would even post it at all. I am also used to Elite Racing and I have to say that they put on a very well organized race (now that I have something to compare it to). Nike had some cool things, but overall there were a few things they lacked that the Rock N Roll marathons had.
A bunch of us from TNT are thinking about planning a trip to Seattle for their Innagural R&R in June (not with TNT though) You should think about it! Get your “heavy metal” award!
Am I just dumb. After reading the SF article, I concluded that “elite” runners start first and then the other runners start. That seems totally back—wards to me. They should all start the same or the slowpokes should start first.
Penny: It does seem straight forward with the start line/finish line/fastest time… Somehow it got turned into something more complex, huh?
BethT: Looks like you’re safe if you want to do the race in the future, they’re changing their policy!
Chris: BS is the best way to describe the whole situation.
~moe~: I read that the people who run “elite” have to be invited or submit a special resume. So how would she have even known she would have her best race ever? The “Elite” idea is stupid, but they’re going to change that in the future.
Alissa: I have been thinking about doing the RnR in Seattle… as soon as I make my decision I’ll let you know. That would be awesome. Plus you’re right, I’ll need the 2009 Heavy Medal… I’ll have two RnR events in 2008 so I’ll earn that!
Stub: You are not dumb. You read it exactly right, the elite runners started early. Weird, huh? You came to the exact same consensus as most runners, “Why do the fast ones need a head start?”
That’s great. I wrote about this too but hadn’t seen that Nike followed up and took care of the problem!
Yay for Seattle! I hope it works out for the both of us. It would be perfect timing for our desert climates. Do our last 20+ miler around the first of June, when its still kind of cool in the mornings. Then take July and August off from serious training and long runs in the heat (I swore never again would I do long runs through the summer!). Then start training for a late fall/winter marathon at the end of the summer. Wow I’m planning way too far and advance now!
Alissa: Okay, Seattle would be awesome. You’re right, the timing of the race would be perfect for training weather. And I agree… no more long, long runs in the summer heat! I have that same problem of planning too far in advance. Just today I was talking to my teammates about the possibility of doing the Nike Women’s Marathon in 2010. That’s REALLY far out!
LOL, sounds like you and I are a lot alike. 2010 huh? You should do it! Don’t count on a PR though!
Alissa: Does that make us super-achievers or a little insane that we’re thinking of 2010? 😉 I kind of figured the Nike race would be purely for fun and not PR. But you nailed that thing!