Distance Runner Loses Half-Marathon Title and $20,000 Prize After She’s Led Off Course by Officials

NEED TO KNOW

• The runner leading the U.S. Half Marathon Championships was guided off the race's course less than two miles from the finish line
• Jess McClain finished ninth, while Molly Born — who was more than a minute off McClain's pace — claimed the top spot and won the $20,000 prize
• USA Track and Field's jury of appeals ruled that it found no reason to alter the results to finish

Distance runner Jess McClain was poised to win a crucial race — until she was mistakenly guided off the course.

On Sunday, March 1, McClain was among scores of runners competing in the 2026 U.S. Half Marathon Championships in Atlanta, all vying for a top-three spot to qualify to represent Team USA in Copenhagen later this year.

That goal appeared well within reach for McClain as she approached the last two miles from of the race, The Athletic reported.

As the frontrunner, McClain was following the lead vehicle supplied by the race's host, Atlanta Track Club.

But then the vehicle erroneously veered off the course, and when McClain realized and returned to the established path, she had run an extra 400 meters (about one fourth of a mile).

McClain arrived at the finish line in ninth place, well behind the race's winner Molly Born — who had been more than a minute off McClain's pace at the time of the error, The Athletic reported. Born was given the $20,000 prize, awarded to the men's and women's winners.

Behind McClain were runners Emma Grace Hurley and Ednah Kurgat, who had also veered off course. Hurley and Kurgat came in 12th and 13th place, respectively, according to Athletics Illustrated.

Following protestation filings by the impacted athletes, the jury of appeals for USA Track and Field said that it found the half marathon violated a rule that the path should be adequately marked at the point where the lead vehicle and the three runners were misdirected. But the error bears no impact on the results, their statement read.

"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," the jury of appeals concluded.

Runners are responsible for knowing the course, The Athletic reported, citing the race's rules.

USATF emphasized that Atlanta Track Club was charged with supplying and managing the lead vehicles. In its own statement, also released March 1, track club CEO Rich Kenah claimed "full responsibility" for the error.

"Athletes should never have to make a split-second decision between following a pace vehicle or trusting the official course," Kenah stated, adding, "Atlanta Track Club will make best efforts to ensure the affected athletes — Jess McClain, Emma Grace Hurley and Ednah Kurgat — are made whole."

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Both Atlanta Track Club and USATF are reviewing the events of the half marathon, each organization's statement said.

The final selection for runners representing Team USA in Copenhagen will not officially take place until May, USATF stated. McClain previously represented the United States last year in the World Championship Marathon in Tokyo, where she finished in eighth place.

Read the original article on People