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mahatmakanejeeves

(61,608 posts)
Tue Sep 28, 2021, 06:45 AM Sep 2021

Two marathon frontrunners took the wrong path. Another runner sprinted to the finish and won.

Morning Mix

Two marathon frontrunners took the wrong path. Another runner sprinted to the finish and won the $3,000 prize.

By Andrea Salcedo
Today at 6:33 a.m. EDT

Elijah Mwangangi Saolo and Luke Kibet were so far ahead of the other runners as they sprinted through the final stretch of the annual Quad Cities Marathon on Sunday that something had to go extremely wrong for the pair to lose the first and second places, the Quad-City Times reported.

It did.

Instead of following the designated track, Saolo and Kibet followed a marathon volunteer who mistakenly led both runners off the route, automatically disqualifying the two Kenyans from the 26.2-mile run that begins and ends in downtown Moline, Ill.

Their loss was Tyler Pence’s win.

Pence, the head track and cross-country coach at the University of Illinois Springfield, witnessed everything unfolding and saw his opening. He stuck to the marathon’s path, becoming the first U.S. runner since 2001 to win the race.

{snip}

By Andrea Salcedo
Andrea Salcedo is a reporter on The Washington Post's Morning Mix team. Before joining The Post in 2020, she covered breaking news and features for the New York Times metro desk. Twitter https://twitter.com/andreapsalcedo
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Two marathon frontrunners took the wrong path. Another runner sprinted to the finish and won. (Original Post) mahatmakanejeeves Sep 2021 OP
An investigation is in order. Somebody might've wanted the local boy to win over... brush Sep 2021 #1
He waren't no Ioway home boy, he was an Illinoian. marble falls Sep 2021 #3
An American then. Race monitors are there to not let... brush Sep 2021 #4
Well that sucks. underpants Sep 2021 #2
Not if someone appearing to be a monitor leads you the wrong way. brush Sep 2021 #5

brush

(58,022 posts)
1. An investigation is in order. Somebody might've wanted the local boy to win over...
Tue Sep 28, 2021, 07:00 AM
Sep 2021

two leading Kenyan runners.

brush

(58,022 posts)
4. An American then. Race monitors are there to not let...
Tue Sep 28, 2021, 07:44 AM
Sep 2021

that happen. Sure seems like somebody pulled a fast one.

underpants

(187,341 posts)
2. Well that sucks.
Tue Sep 28, 2021, 07:04 AM
Sep 2021

Having run a few, it’s usually very well marked. I tend to be sucking wind terribly at the end but it’s kinda hard to not follow where to go.

brush

(58,022 posts)
5. Not if someone appearing to be a monitor leads you the wrong way.
Tue Sep 28, 2021, 07:46 AM
Sep 2021

That needs to be investigated.

Makes one wonder if a bit of racism was involved too in whitebread Iowa.

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