© Copyright – 2026 – Athletics Illustrated
The 2026 USATF Half Marathon Championships in Atlanta, GA, hosted by the Atlanta Track Club, saw the top-three female athletes venture off course for 400 metres. When they realized the error, the trio ran another 400m to get back on course. None of them ended up on the podium.
The athletes were led off course by the media vehicle.
While it is the athlete’s responsibility to know the route in advance, three vehicles were involved in the turn: a police motorcycle, the media vehicle and, apparently, a motorcycle with a camera operator.
It was 1:04:40 into the race when the leader, Jess McClain, discovered the error. She had a substantial lead on the next two runners, who she had to re-pass after taking a 180-degree turn(back). Emma Grace Hurley and Edna Kurgat were in second and third position at that time. They finished in ninth, 12th and 13th and are credited with the times of 1:11:27, 1:11:38 and 1:11:50.
It appeared that McClain had an approximate 30-second lead on Hurley and Kurgat when the wrong turn was made.
Molly Born was credited with the win with a time of 1:09:43. Taking second was Carrie Ellwood, and third was Annie Rodenfels. They finished in 1:09:47 and 1:10:12, respectively.
Video stream recording
Men’s top-three finishers
Wesley Kiptoo took the win. As he was finishing, over the final km, he looked back a few times and pumped his arms. He clocked a 1:01:15, 15 seconds up on Hillary Bor. Ahmed Muhamed took third in 1:01:51.
Kiptoo and Bor are former Kenyan athletes who are American citizens, while Muhumed is originally from Somalia. For all three athletes, it was an opportunity to win prize money and represent their country, where they may not have been able to do so otherwise.
Charles Hicks, who finished fourth, is a British-born American. He clocked in at 1:02:10. Bob Liking from St. Charles, Illinois, finished fifth in 1:02:21.
The top-three finishers earn a spot for the US at the World Half Marathon Championships.
First place earns the athletes $20,000.
Forum contributor (Let’srun.com)
i ended riding the last part of the race with the 3rd/4th place runners (Muhumed/Hicks). the course is definitely on the more technical side, especially towards the end as it re-enters downtown. the first big issue was at mile 11.7. following the right turn on Forsyth, the course crosses Marietta St. at the Marathon/Half Marathon course ~1.05 mile marker. as we approached the crossing, police were holding the mass participation race as the back of the pack runners were still coming through. this worked out alright, but i’m not sure how the Elite Men a minute or two back navigated that.
at this point the turns were frequent enough that we could not always see the leading duo. at mile marker 12.03 there is a right on Nelson St. at this point, the TV moto went straight (off course). i shouted at the runners to turn and Muhumud ran off course for only two or three strides before he realized the issue and made the correct turn (this was not shown in the broadcast). at this point i moved in front of the two runners to provide course guidance (i had the course loaded in my bike computer to ensure that i didn’t make any mistakes).
one block after the right turn onto Nelson St. (and our TV moto disappeared) the course crosses Ted Turner Dr and continues onto a pedestrian only bridge (mile marker 12.1). this is the moment where the Women’s leaders were taken off course. their moto turned left rather than continuing straight. this happened at 1:03:21 on the race clock (1:28:26 in the youtube video). the leading trio of women realized their issue at 1:04:40 on the race clock, so they ran an addition ~2:40 (assuming even pacing). you can see them turning back onto the bridge and returning to the correct course at 1:06:03 on the race clock.
so what happened and who is at fault? unfortunately, i think it was a lot of failures all happening at the same time. the moto turned the wrong way. (going straight onto the bridge does seem “wrong” for a vehicle as it is pedestrian only however when i crossed this bridge on my bike a few minutes earlier i noticed some police motos on the bridge, and when they rejoin the course the TV moto does cross the bridge with the runners.) none of the police or volunteers in the vicinity were quick enough to alert the runners of the issue (the police seemed solely focused on directing vehicle traffic and letting cars pass when there was a gap in the race). and, i hate to say it, but the runner is responsible for knowing the route.* this point i say with an asterisk* because if i was leading a race and i “knew” the route but was following a motorcycle that should be assumed to be leading me along the correct course (why in the world would the TV moto peel off the race course a mile from the finish?) in the heat of the moment, i would follow the moto. so, yes, technically the runner must know the course, but i think that is B.S. in a situation like this when a race official guides you off course.
how should USATF correct this issue… i’m not sure. all i know is that it really stinks for the all the “official” top finishers in the prize money, and for these three runners who were led astray. (it’s unclear to me if 4th/5th/etc. were also led off course, or if it was only the top three at the time.
disclaimer: i speak for myself and not on behalf of ATC or USATF.
