Arien O’Connell, a schoolteacher from Brooklyn, N.Y., was one of 20,000 runners in the San Francisco Women’s Marathon last weekend. When it was over, she stood alone, posting the fastest time, even over the 19 elite racers, by a big margin.
O’Connell finished in 2 hours, 55 minutes and 11 seconds, nearly 11 minutes ahead of Nora Colligan.
Race organizers initially ruled Colligan the winner because O’Connell did not run in the elite field, but reversed their decision Wednesday, declaring both winners.
“I think there were a lot of things in this race that were not clarified in terms of what it meant to be elite,” O’Connell told The New York Times. “I do think that what happened in this situation was fair.”
Nike also announced it would eliminate the elite running group from future Nike women’s marathons.
