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U.S. Half-Marathon Championships Thrown Into Chaos After Leaders Accidentally Led Off Course

TOKYO, JAPAN - SEPTEMBER 14: Susanna Sullivan of Team United States and Jessica McClain of Team United States compete in the Women's Marathon during day two of the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 2025 at National Stadium on September 14, 2025 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Julian Finney/Getty Images

Jess McClain was cruising to her first U.S. half-marathon championship this past weekend in Atlanta when the lead vehicle in charge of driving the course ahead of her made a wrong turn with less than two miles to go, sending her and the other would-be top-three runners off the course and costing them the benefits of finishing on the podium: prestige, money, and spots on the team the U.S. will send to the World Championships.

McClain was well clear of Emma Grace Hurley and Ednah Kurgat when the incident took place, and all three had to turn around, make their way back onto the course, and finish down the standings, in ninth, 12th, and 13th, respectively. The runners filed formal appeals and protests, which were summarily denied. Per a statement that U.S.A. Track & Field gave to the Athletic:

[T]he course was not adequately marked at the point of misdirection. This violation contributed to the misdirection taken by the athletes within the top four at the time of misdirection. However, the jury of appeals finds no recourse within the USATF rulebook to alter the results order of finish. The results order of finish as posted is considered final.

Racers attended a technical meeting the day before, and are considered responsible for knowing the course route themselves. That's a frustrating rule, given that the runners are encountering the course in a state of extreme exertion, and given that the race leader follows a lead vehicle. It would be pretty unrealistic to expect McClain, running just a few feet behind that lead vehicle, to notice in real time exactly where it went wrong here.

Thankfully, some reparations have been made. "As Race Director, I take full responsibility for what occurred," Atlanta Track Club CEO Rich Kenah said in a statement. "Athletes should never have to make a split-second decision between following a pace vehicle or trusting the official course."

The incident took place at the intersection of Ted Turner Drive and Nelson Road, where runners were meant to continue straight on Turner and where the lead car took a left onto Nelson. That left turn had been blocked off earlier by traffic cones as part of the race's staging. Around 13 minutes before the lead vehicle and McClain arrived there, according to a long, simultaneously detailed and vague statement from Atlanta Track Club, something unspecified happened to a police officer one block away from the race course, resulting in an "officer down" report being broadcast across the Atlanta police radio frequency.

In the rush to respond, somebody evidently moved aside the cones blocking the left turn onto Nelson to let emergency vehicles through and didn't reset them, leaving the intersection unconed. The cops who'd been manning the intersection for the race left to assist the mysteriously down officer and were replaced by ones who didn't know how to handle the race traffic. According to the track club's statement, a police motorcycle ahead of the lead race vehicle hung a left on Nelson, and the lead vehicle driver, somewhat inexplicably, just followed the motorcycle instead of continuing along the planned race course. McClain followed the lead vehicle; Hurley and Kurgat followed McClain.

Atlanta Track Club announced that it will award the three runners the equivalent prize money for the positions they were in when the race got derailed, which is very generous. A subsequent USATF statement had more good news in store for McClain: She might get to go to Worlds after all. "That team is not officially selected until May," the statement read. "USATF will review the events from Atlanta carefully. While we understand athletes are eager to resolve this issue expeditiously, our process will ensure an ultimate decision is in the best interest of all the athletes involved."

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