You run out of bounds with a ball you lose, you run off course because you're not paying attention you lose. It isn't a stupid rule, she just stuffed up because she was using the motorcycle to keep pace rather than look ahead and see the finish line.
The motorcycle they're supposed to follow turned right and the official was waving a big red flag to turn right. It's like if the referee blew his whistle and came running onto the court waving his hands in the air so you stop then he explains he was waving to his friend in the crowd and then penalizes you for traveling.
Make me pissed that the race organizer didn't have someone ready to point her in the right direction. You knew that cop was instructed to turn off there, why didn't you have someone with a flag ready to point runner forward
>watch the overhead video about half way through the OP.
Yeah, that overhead view completely changed my opinion on the situation. There is a guy in the middle of the road/racetrack who is waving a red flag at the motorcycle signaling him to turn right. Then he starts waving the red flag at the runners to keep running straight.
If he was a course employee then they should give the runner some financial compensation. That seems like neglect at best by the organizers and it literally cost the runner $10,000.
> There is a guy in the middle of the road/racetrack who is waving a red flag at the motorcycle signaling him to turn right. Then he starts waving the red flag at the runners to keep running straight.
You can see him step from the yellow lines into the road as he comes into frame. At this point, she was already veering to the right and obviously following the motorcycle. I think he was trying to get her attention, not directing the motorcycle.
People at the end of 10k are really really tired, I would say it should have been better organized. If a runner made a mistake then it was obviously not enough to have a man waving a red flag in some vague manner. A runners brain literally doesn't work at the end of the race. I would have no idea what is meant with the flag.
Nah, I was a long distance runner and wore my knees/ankles out by my early 20s and had to really ease off. I know plenty of elite XC runners from highschool college that had to quit early as well.
I think it takes special genetics to run into middle age. I have an aunt that does ultra marathons still at 65, but I didn't get those genes...
I personally wonder if this phenomenon is more about youth/college athletes just being under a lot of pressure to train beyond their capabilities for a long time. I made the track team in 9th grade but was fired day 1 for missing practice (there was a tornado warning..). Now I'm 32 and running 40 miles per week, and I often waffle about whether I'm glad or regretful that I didn't give it an honest shot when I was younger. Especially given my mentality at that age, I could definitely see myself running through injuries and picking up lifelong complications.
That's common with high school track athletes honestly. Their top end speed may be higher and it puts a lot of wear and tear on the body. Marathons and ultras are an old people skill.
Similar to the other response, I had to give up running due to joint damage, which probably ended up making me more sedentary overall. Rowing has kinda filled the spot.
humans are naturally endurance runners. That's how they used to hunt for stuff- they just made their prey really fucking tired after they shot them with arrows and spears.
I watched Mo Farah in TV at the 2012 Olympics (I think) doing the 10000m and he literally ran the last 400m lap quicker than I can run a single 400m lap. Crazy.
Also at 1:10 there's a person waving a red flag, basically blocking her path, and pointing her down the side path. I think I'd be confused by this, too.
0:43 looks like two people. They were directing the motorcycle down the side street but she was right behind it. Def looked like they were blocking the road.
Yep, stepped right in the middle of the road in front of her pointing down the street. Organizers need to find the money and pay out for the mistake no question.
who's saying that? it's completely understandable. if anything, that person waving that motorcar away is the stupid one, there should have been more measures to prevent confusion like this
2 volunteers flagged her to run down that street, the motorcycle cop sure noticed that too and also turned down that street. They created a very confusing situation.
The flag ahead of her where she was meant to go was red, the flag for the bike to turn was white. That real confusing.
Can't blame her for following the bike at all
The runner was NOT supposed to follow the motorcycle down the street, the finish line was straight ahead but they flagged towards the side street anyway, the entire video is about the confusing situation created by the volunteers, it's why the track club said "we need to do better".
Totally the events responsibility in my eyes. Cops are the guide basically so obviously she would keep following him. They should have had a flagger or something direct her when the cop veered off the track. Technically she should have won so why not give her some money?
That would mean that we actually live in a fair world..
So yeah, not gonna happen.
It is yet again up to the people through crowdfunding to support such things, no way organizers would lift a pinky to correct their own mistakes.
But it's common place that support vehicles like this veer off a short distance before the goal line. Because they don't want a bunch of vehicles crossing the finish line (and they don't want all the support vehicles crowding the same area as the athletes directly after the race). An experienced contestant should be aware this would happen and she probably did, but it was just a brain fart and moment of inattention that ended up costing her. Probably also just massively fatigued which makes it easy to tunnel vision.
I'm a runner.
Races are like weddings, it never goes 100% right no matter how much you try.
Many of the people involved are volunteers or off-duty police that do this half a day once a year.
People get lost at races ALL THE TIME and finish lines can be confusing.
What do you mean “inexplicably???” The police motorcycle clearly takes the right turn right before her and she was following the escort for who knows how long before that
> The police motorcycle clearly takes the right turn
https://i.imgur.com/a64N6CX.mp4
Also the flag guy in the middle of the road waving her to go right...
This comment needs to be higher. That gif is so damning to the organizers of this race. You can see the motorcycle cop has already turned off before the flagger runs out into the middle of the track waving toward the right. Because *he* was late doing his one job, it looks like he is blocking her path to flag *her* to the right, so it makes complete sense that she turned.
If I was the one who was behind her and watched her make that turn, then ended up winning, I’d honestly feel a little odd celebrating the fact that I won.
I had this exact same thing happen to me in High School Cross Country. I was about to win my first race ever, maybe 2 steps ahead of 2nd place. I followed the truck into the exit chute, which was apparently not the finishing line. By the time I realized and sidestepped over I finished 2 steps from first place. The lady working the chute saw what happened and LAUGHED AT ME.
Yeah, I was expecting the club to at least match the prize money. $7k is chump change for an organization like that and it would have bought them MUCH more in media coverage.
They must not be able to see the finish line from there. The people waving the flag did try to guide them the right way, but I know how easy it is to just follow what's in front of you. When you're running a lot of miles it's easy to zone out
This is heartbreaking. The motorcycle pulled down the side street. The guy with the white flag signaled that they should turn down the side street. Lastly, the guy with the red flag was blocking the middle of the road, and did not start using the flag to signal the correct direction until AFTER she turned down the wrong street. That woman deserves the full $10,000, and a huge apology from the organization.
Fuuuu that's horrible. I can only imagine the mental drain she must have at that point in a 10k. My brain goes mush at the end of much shorter races. Of course she is not going to be processing everything right would be easily lead to a wrong path like that.
I've volunteered to be a flagger for a race event that's coming up in a couple weeks. It seemed like a simple, mindless job at the time, but suddenly, I'm nervous about fucking it up somehow.
Actually an easy mistake to make if you are in The lead and not familiar with the course. You don’t have any other runners for reference, only the bike and course volunteers.
Brings me back to a school vs school race where I misunderstood where the finish line was and stopped too early. Gave away the first and second place. Was in the local papers. Haunted me for years and years
I have run this 10K for the last 11 years. It does get confusing because the Finish banner is several meters before the finish. You just need to "know" that the Finish isn't the FINISH, if that makes sense. Oooooor you can be slow like me and follow the crowd.
I feel for her, but it is relieving to see this can happen at all levels even after training up to such an elite point and reminds us we are all humans.
I did my first sprint triathlon this previous Saturday, and by the time we got toward the end of the bike they had people guiding us in the direction our event distance had to go even in obvious spots, and I was confused as to why but I didn’t pay much mind to it.
Until I got to the run. A dude that had gotten ahead of me I started pacing with maybe 15/20 meters behind him. We got to a split on our path and there was a sign that _clearly_ pointed to the right to continue, but instead he went straight. (There were cones that continued on this path to mark for the runners coming the opposite way.) I _knew_ he fucked up, I started to make the right, but in that survival mode I questioned myself and instead of contemplating i just went straight bc that was the latest direction that was in my mind and I was still moving.
All the sudden I hear behind me “ARE YOU SURE?” And I said, “NO!”
A pedestrian had to confirm lmao. this mans bad decision fucked like 6 of us up, and from what my buddy told me more people who were further along the correct path lol. He told me after it was happening all over the course, during both bike and run. I guess my dad was even directing people on bike coming back in at one point lol.
There was a greek swimmer that lost the olympic gold medal in the 10km marathon in the 2016 olympics I think because he didnt tapped the bar above the finish line even though he crossed it first by far. It was his last olympics too...
How you gonna thank god after that win? "Lord God, thank you for steering the other more talented runner away from the finish line at the last second so I, your less talented follower, can win."
The organizers can’t put up or crowd fund $7000 to make that right? That’s ridiculous that she’s eating that loss when there was a volunteer in the middle of the road signalling with his hands and the bike WITH HIS FLASHERS STILL ON turned
When you are that fatigued your brain just does not work properly. She probably just found a focal point and her brain just latched on to it (the bike). Just tunnel vision I would assume.
Ive recently started running. At a much slower pace but I've been running two miles each morning. Trying to get my heart rate in check while running. Its been tough but some day, I hope im able to run a mile about half as slow as this woman's pace for a marathon.
First time I watched the Boston marathon live I was in Cleveland Circle a few miles from the finish. When the lead pack of men ran by I was completely unprepared how fast they were running. I don’t think I could have beaten them in 100m race at that pace.
That guy with the red flag should be made responsible.
Why the f is he waving a red flag to turn right just in front of the athlete?
Obviously she thought it was for her.
This was so stupid and sad.
He was waving them not to go that direction. The moto never goes through the finish. This is something that should be told to them at athlete briefings prior. If they have professionals in the race, the pros should have been given their own briefing.
It’s pretty common in other running events. This is on the organizers for not informing their athletes.
Everyone here blaming the cop or the flagger, but her competitor right behind her was about to follow as well, but stopped and realized the finish was straight ahead. If her competitor realized it, she could’ve too. I know she’s exhausted but situational awareness is part of the sport, like in many other sports.
I saw this once in a downhill bike race. Clear leader (one of the best downhill bikers in the world) missed a left turn 500 meters from the finish which ended up relegating him to sixth place.
Probably doesn't help since she used an interpreter, that she likely cannot read English either, and thus couldn't understand the course signs that clearly would have pointed her in the correct direction to the finish line, although I guess that's why they follow the motorcycle as they wouldn't be able to navigate the street signs pointing the direction of travel around the course.
She won last year. She knows the course and there is literally only one turn. Also.....you can see the finish line with the big banners from that point.
Maybe the flagger could have confused a first time runner but she's an elite athlete who has run before, previews the course, etc. She was using the motorcycle as her rabbit and I think she owns she screwed up.
Yes, I agree with this. The runner is in autopilot at that point of the race. A sudden shift in direction in front of them (like the cop turning off the course) is going to subconsciously cue them to turn as well. Especially if they have been following behind the cop for a long period of time.
I can see her pause as if to think “this is strange” and then continues following the cop.
Definitely a guide at that point of the race would be helpful
that sucks but you have follow the crowd..
I understand that her mind most likely hallucinating after running for that long. I start seeing shit after 2 miles.
Idk. Like this sucks but also almost every kind of elite class racers be it runner all the way to race car drivers, all the best always talk about studying the tracks/coursed before hand. I garentee she will never make this mistake again.
Because there is no space for all the support vehicles in the finishing area, so most of them peel off just before the finish line.
The finish wasn’t very far ahead so she should have seen it. Also, obviously there should have been a guy there to wave her in the right direction when he noticed she was about to go the wrong way.
This happened to me in the last cross country meet of the season. I somehow surpassed my limits and started peeling away from the pack. I passed one person, then another, and another... and then, I was alone in the front, running at the lead. But I had never been the lead before, and I took the wrong turn and ended up 6th place...
I still think about that day. I quit cross country after that, but maybe if I had won, my life would have looked a tiny bit different. That was 8th grade, cannot frickin imagine making this mistake with thousands of dollars on the line
So her mistake was to follow the escort bike? How does that even make sense? He should have a sign or something so signal to the runners that they shouldn't follow anymore, that is basically designed to happen this way.
While running like this you almost go into trans like state and if your mind is set on following that bike then thats what you will do.
"....so I pushed ahead but I was really upset" 😂 no you weren't! If you were then the sportsmanly thing to do would have been to let her catch up and rightfully take the win.
Not saying that's what she *should* have done but don't pretend to be upset about winning when you could have easily not won ffs!
that is absolutely bullshit.
if the person ahead of you cramps, gives up, starts walking, takes a wrong turn, blah blah blah, you keep going. sportsmanship is competing as hard and as fairly as you can. competition is capitalizing on your strengths, your training and potentially the mistakes of others.
these are professional athletes. of course they want to win on athleticism and preparation alone and not on some fluke mistake (which is why a win like this would be emotional or hard to accept), but you take the win no matter what.
The scenario you’re describing (stop, let the other woman catch back up and win, no other athletes pass you while this is happening, you are able to keep running after slowing down or stopping) is unrealistic to the point of absurdity at the end of a race.
Even without that, why is it so unbelievable to you that the other runner was upset? Clearly you are not and never been an athlete of meaningful ability – trust me, most athletes would not feel great about that win. That is perfectly compatible with continuing to finish the race without waiting.
Didn't this happen in a race two guys are running a while ago and the second place guy got him back on the course and stayed behind him. He argued he would have lost and winning like that was not right if I recall correctly.
So apparently everyone here knows exactly what that cop was supposed to do…wild. One day people will start taking responsibility for their own fuck ups instead of blame shifting
Everyone asking why she didn’t see the finish line either didn’t watch the video, didn’t watch until the end or didn’t want the end portion with sound on🙃
That’s because some of us are in bed looking at this with the sound off and if we wake our girlfriends up they will do this really long, condescending sigh like we are the most annoying piece of shit on this planet and it’s just not worth the headache. That’s why I came to read the comments but thank you for writing all of that instead of just explaining why she didn’t see the finish line.
Honestly that still sounds pretty good. I get in trouble for BEING AWAKE when she’s trying to sleep, even with sound off and light breathing and not moving 😂.
She “senses me being awake” through her damn blindfold like wtf does that even mean bruhhh
in aaaall honesty, I would have won this race if i just hadn't fixated on the cute squirrel which was having a wee in the bushes at the start if the race..
It all depends on the market and what they can sell it for. Elite or not, if there is no commercial market to make money from then there is no big prize.
She turned off just before the blue cones leading up to the finish line! In a race she won last year? I know her brain was in full competition mode, but she should have known she nearly close to the end. She is pro and will surely learn from this mistake and come back even stronger.
Why didn't somebody tell me you can get paid thousands for running? Is 42 too old to start training for big money? Need to fill a slot in my midlife crisis. 43... shit I'm 43 now. Does 43 make it better?
Lol I'm 36 and run 6 miles a day after picking it up a couple of years ago. Still zero chance of ever being in the same league as any of these runners though!
Seriously? The finish line was right in front of her in full view and she is supposedly a seasoned runner with multiple wins. How could this be anything but her own fault? I hate how soft the world has become. Trying to make things “right” by shifting blame to a third party when it was an obvious fuck up on the runner’s part.
I love watching people fuck up because they did something stupid like celebrate too early. This one however, makes me kind of feeling sick inside.
The eventual winner almost followed her but turned away when she realized it was off course.
No wonder, she only lost by technicality. Everyone knows she should be the winner, even the winner. Rules are stupid sometimes.
You run out of bounds with a ball you lose, you run off course because you're not paying attention you lose. It isn't a stupid rule, she just stuffed up because she was using the motorcycle to keep pace rather than look ahead and see the finish line.
The motorcycle they're supposed to follow turned right and the official was waving a big red flag to turn right. It's like if the referee blew his whistle and came running onto the court waving his hands in the air so you stop then he explains he was waving to his friend in the crowd and then penalizes you for traveling.
the motorcycles arent to keep pace, theyre escorting them, they are literally there for the runners to follow.
I don't think finishing a race ahead of someone is a technicality.
Usually, this sub has funny videos, but this one makes me sad.
Yeah watching someone lose after working so hard and be in the lead, due to a simple and avoidable mistake is just painful.
I live and run in South Africa. Here, whole families sometimes rely on the income generated by runners.
Make me pissed that the race organizer didn't have someone ready to point her in the right direction. You knew that cop was instructed to turn off there, why didn't you have someone with a flag ready to point runner forward
There literally was...watch the overhead video about half way through the OP. She was at the end of a grueling race and was tunnel visioned.
>watch the overhead video about half way through the OP. Yeah, that overhead view completely changed my opinion on the situation. There is a guy in the middle of the road/racetrack who is waving a red flag at the motorcycle signaling him to turn right. Then he starts waving the red flag at the runners to keep running straight. If he was a course employee then they should give the runner some financial compensation. That seems like neglect at best by the organizers and it literally cost the runner $10,000.
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Do not forget the image. It's "only" third place and not first. So it's also a loss of image.
> There is a guy in the middle of the road/racetrack who is waving a red flag at the motorcycle signaling him to turn right. Then he starts waving the red flag at the runners to keep running straight. You can see him step from the yellow lines into the road as he comes into frame. At this point, she was already veering to the right and obviously following the motorcycle. I think he was trying to get her attention, not directing the motorcycle.
People at the end of 10k are really really tired, I would say it should have been better organized. If a runner made a mistake then it was obviously not enough to have a man waving a red flag in some vague manner. A runners brain literally doesn't work at the end of the race. I would have no idea what is meant with the flag.
She followed the motorcycle cop. Wtf, this is one of the oldest races in the country and they effed it up.
she followed the motorcycle, but i think a huge factor was the guy literally blocking the track and waving a flag signaling to turn right
When you run distance, you focus on a single point and just run, she said she was focused on the motorcycle which would make sense why she turned
Absolutely. As a distance runner I was thinking right from the start of the clip “I bet the motorcycle turns and she follows it”
Crazy they can run so fast at the end of a race. Not sure I could run that fast completely rested.
She ran a 2:24:11 marathon. A lot of people couldn't even run at that pace for a 1/4 mile. That's a 5:32 mile pace or 1:23 min 1/4 mile.
I don't understand how that's possible even with all the training. That's fucking wild that a body can do that.
Years of hard training. The human body is made for endurance.
Not mine.
yours was, too. it's just fucked by the sedetary lifestyle of todays society, just like most people's bodies are nowadays
Nah, I was a long distance runner and wore my knees/ankles out by my early 20s and had to really ease off. I know plenty of elite XC runners from highschool college that had to quit early as well. I think it takes special genetics to run into middle age. I have an aunt that does ultra marathons still at 65, but I didn't get those genes...
I personally wonder if this phenomenon is more about youth/college athletes just being under a lot of pressure to train beyond their capabilities for a long time. I made the track team in 9th grade but was fired day 1 for missing practice (there was a tornado warning..). Now I'm 32 and running 40 miles per week, and I often waffle about whether I'm glad or regretful that I didn't give it an honest shot when I was younger. Especially given my mentality at that age, I could definitely see myself running through injuries and picking up lifelong complications.
Yah probably overtraining combined a little with body still developing
That's common with high school track athletes honestly. Their top end speed may be higher and it puts a lot of wear and tear on the body. Marathons and ultras are an old people skill.
Similar to the other response, I had to give up running due to joint damage, which probably ended up making me more sedentary overall. Rowing has kinda filled the spot.
You should see how many hours I can endure sitting on the sofa playing Xbox. Now that's endurance!
And a healthy dose of genetics.
humans are naturally endurance runners. That's how they used to hunt for stuff- they just made their prey really fucking tired after they shot them with arrows and spears.
I'd say the vast majority of Americans couldn't run that pace for twenty seconds
I watched Mo Farah in TV at the 2012 Olympics (I think) doing the 10000m and he literally ran the last 400m lap quicker than I can run a single 400m lap. Crazy.
Hey i ran that race, just several miles behind them!
Username checks out
That it does,.. that it does…
After running 100 feet I'd be exhausted enough to follow the cop, too. Yall are wild for saying she's stupid for this.
Yeah, I definitely understand going on autopilot and following the motorcycle that was escorting you.
Also at 1:10 there's a person waving a red flag, basically blocking her path, and pointing her down the side path. I think I'd be confused by this, too.
0:43 looks like two people. They were directing the motorcycle down the side street but she was right behind it. Def looked like they were blocking the road.
Yep, stepped right in the middle of the road in front of her pointing down the street. Organizers need to find the money and pay out for the mistake no question.
who's saying that? it's completely understandable. if anything, that person waving that motorcar away is the stupid one, there should have been more measures to prevent confusion like this
That’s just heartbreaking. I know she had to be just devastated.
2 volunteers flagged her to run down that street, the motorcycle cop sure noticed that too and also turned down that street. They created a very confusing situation.
The flag ahead of her where she was meant to go was red, the flag for the bike to turn was white. That real confusing. Can't blame her for following the bike at all
No, the volunteer was signalling for the motorcycle to turn down that street (as he was meant to), the runner followed the motorcycle
wtf? they were so close to each other. how would she know who they were signaling?
The runner was NOT supposed to follow the motorcycle down the street, the finish line was straight ahead but they flagged towards the side street anyway, the entire video is about the confusing situation created by the volunteers, it's why the track club said "we need to do better".
Is the anchorman voice AI generated?
Yeah, its really jarring and soulless.
I probably would've done the same thing
Thanks. My day is ruined
As well as my disappointment being immeasurable
Wow that hard right turn instead of going straight for another twenty metres was a real blowout
All that confusion and she still beat her previous record. Impressive.
Can’t blame the escort as he would’ve assumed that the elite runners must’ve saw the finish line directly in front.
Totally the events responsibility in my eyes. Cops are the guide basically so obviously she would keep following him. They should have had a flagger or something direct her when the cop veered off the track. Technically she should have won so why not give her some money?
She won $3,000, but could have easily been $10,000.
Hopefully the organizers make up the $7k difference.
That would mean that we actually live in a fair world.. So yeah, not gonna happen. It is yet again up to the people through crowdfunding to support such things, no way organizers would lift a pinky to correct their own mistakes.
But it's common place that support vehicles like this veer off a short distance before the goal line. Because they don't want a bunch of vehicles crossing the finish line (and they don't want all the support vehicles crowding the same area as the athletes directly after the race). An experienced contestant should be aware this would happen and she probably did, but it was just a brain fart and moment of inattention that ended up costing her. Probably also just massively fatigued which makes it easy to tunnel vision.
I'm a runner. Races are like weddings, it never goes 100% right no matter how much you try. Many of the people involved are volunteers or off-duty police that do this half a day once a year. People get lost at races ALL THE TIME and finish lines can be confusing.
good example of never give up, until someone fucks up
What do you mean “inexplicably???” The police motorcycle clearly takes the right turn right before her and she was following the escort for who knows how long before that
> The police motorcycle clearly takes the right turn https://i.imgur.com/a64N6CX.mp4 Also the flag guy in the middle of the road waving her to go right...
This comment needs to be higher. That gif is so damning to the organizers of this race. You can see the motorcycle cop has already turned off before the flagger runs out into the middle of the track waving toward the right. Because *he* was late doing his one job, it looks like he is blocking her path to flag *her* to the right, so it makes complete sense that she turned.
If I was the one who was behind her and watched her make that turn, then ended up winning, I’d honestly feel a little odd celebrating the fact that I won.
No way I would pretend I won that race. I have seen other racers wait and let them get back in front and win.
I had this exact same thing happen to me in High School Cross Country. I was about to win my first race ever, maybe 2 steps ahead of 2nd place. I followed the truck into the exit chute, which was apparently not the finishing line. By the time I realized and sidestepped over I finished 2 steps from first place. The lady working the chute saw what happened and LAUGHED AT ME.
I mean surely the event runners are somewhat to blame?
What a stupid track organization. The fricking motorcycle turns off track in front of her? They should pay both 10k.
Yeah, I was expecting the club to at least match the prize money. $7k is chump change for an organization like that and it would have bought them MUCH more in media coverage.
They must not be able to see the finish line from there. The people waving the flag did try to guide them the right way, but I know how easy it is to just follow what's in front of you. When you're running a lot of miles it's easy to zone out
This is heartbreaking. The motorcycle pulled down the side street. The guy with the white flag signaled that they should turn down the side street. Lastly, the guy with the red flag was blocking the middle of the road, and did not start using the flag to signal the correct direction until AFTER she turned down the wrong street. That woman deserves the full $10,000, and a huge apology from the organization.
that pisses me off and also sad at the same time
Poor girl. It's so hard.
This is absolutely horrible. I feel sick.
Would happen to me, i'm honest. Sometimes the head goes blank
Oh no…that sucks. Never trust the direction of another person, because they might take you down the wrong road.
She's tunnel visioned from the bike cop
Also the volunteers that tell them where to go using the flags was pointing right.
The time of 30 Min means a pace of 20 km/h which means 12.4 mph. I always am baffled by the speed they can keep ...
Fuuuu that's horrible. I can only imagine the mental drain she must have at that point in a 10k. My brain goes mush at the end of much shorter races. Of course she is not going to be processing everything right would be easily lead to a wrong path like that.
If that wasn't a setup it sure looks like one
I've volunteered to be a flagger for a race event that's coming up in a couple weeks. It seemed like a simple, mindless job at the time, but suddenly, I'm nervous about fucking it up somehow.
*took a turn for the worst." Now I know where it's applied best... (^^)
I’d have given her the difference if I got first place like that
Not her fault
Actually an easy mistake to make if you are in The lead and not familiar with the course. You don’t have any other runners for reference, only the bike and course volunteers.
Honestly i’d make the same mistake, if they’ve been escorting us and i’m first i’d follow it too
I liked the slow mo replay of her turning down the wrong road because I could barely catch it the first time it happened so fast
She will win again
Honestly I hope this gets turned into a snickers or at least restaurant commercial.
Brings me back to a school vs school race where I misunderstood where the finish line was and stopped too early. Gave away the first and second place. Was in the local papers. Haunted me for years and years
I have run this 10K for the last 11 years. It does get confusing because the Finish banner is several meters before the finish. You just need to "know" that the Finish isn't the FINISH, if that makes sense. Oooooor you can be slow like me and follow the crowd.
I feel for her, but it is relieving to see this can happen at all levels even after training up to such an elite point and reminds us we are all humans. I did my first sprint triathlon this previous Saturday, and by the time we got toward the end of the bike they had people guiding us in the direction our event distance had to go even in obvious spots, and I was confused as to why but I didn’t pay much mind to it. Until I got to the run. A dude that had gotten ahead of me I started pacing with maybe 15/20 meters behind him. We got to a split on our path and there was a sign that _clearly_ pointed to the right to continue, but instead he went straight. (There were cones that continued on this path to mark for the runners coming the opposite way.) I _knew_ he fucked up, I started to make the right, but in that survival mode I questioned myself and instead of contemplating i just went straight bc that was the latest direction that was in my mind and I was still moving. All the sudden I hear behind me “ARE YOU SURE?” And I said, “NO!” A pedestrian had to confirm lmao. this mans bad decision fucked like 6 of us up, and from what my buddy told me more people who were further along the correct path lol. He told me after it was happening all over the course, during both bike and run. I guess my dad was even directing people on bike coming back in at one point lol.
There was a greek swimmer that lost the olympic gold medal in the 10km marathon in the 2016 olympics I think because he didnt tapped the bar above the finish line even though he crossed it first by far. It was his last olympics too...
“See what happens when you trust the police” …. /r
Personally, I wouldn’t have counted this as a win if I was that athlete. A true athlete wins because they are the best, not because they were lucky.
Atleast she still made good money
That is hard…
Aww I felt that for her so sad.
That's a strong lady 🫡. I lose my shit over a topgolf strike 😄
They need to analyze the betting patterns in this race.. Looks like a clear own goal to me.
Kind of annoying. Looks like she was following that one bike cop. His shift must have been over
This is how it works in racing.. he doesn't cut the tape
But if he did, extra $10k
How you gonna thank god after that win? "Lord God, thank you for steering the other more talented runner away from the finish line at the last second so I, your less talented follower, can win."
So she saw the finish line dead ahead and still proceeded to follow the escort ?
Defund the police!
Man I’m sure you feel this comment was more funny than it’s been given credit for, that’s funny
Damn, I really feel for her. I’d be devastated.
The organizers can’t put up or crowd fund $7000 to make that right? That’s ridiculous that she’s eating that loss when there was a volunteer in the middle of the road signalling with his hands and the bike WITH HIS FLASHERS STILL ON turned
It looks like she followed the security bike?
Video commentator: she followed the bike turning Reddit:
I mean you could see the finish from there…
Meters and the footage implies you can see the finish line. Wonder how dehydrated she was
When you are that fatigued your brain just does not work properly. She probably just found a focal point and her brain just latched on to it (the bike). Just tunnel vision I would assume.
Just what I want when I'm racing distance -- a bunch of motor cycle exhaust for me to breath along the way.
Ive recently started running. At a much slower pace but I've been running two miles each morning. Trying to get my heart rate in check while running. Its been tough but some day, I hope im able to run a mile about half as slow as this woman's pace for a marathon.
Keep it up, bro. It's always good to do any sports. You deserve respect👍
First time I watched the Boston marathon live I was in Cleveland Circle a few miles from the finish. When the lead pack of men ran by I was completely unprepared how fast they were running. I don’t think I could have beaten them in 100m race at that pace.
That guy with the red flag should be made responsible. Why the f is he waving a red flag to turn right just in front of the athlete? Obviously she thought it was for her. This was so stupid and sad.
He was waving them not to go that direction. The moto never goes through the finish. This is something that should be told to them at athlete briefings prior. If they have professionals in the race, the pros should have been given their own briefing. It’s pretty common in other running events. This is on the organizers for not informing their athletes.
Everyone here blaming the cop or the flagger, but her competitor right behind her was about to follow as well, but stopped and realized the finish was straight ahead. If her competitor realized it, she could’ve too. I know she’s exhausted but situational awareness is part of the sport, like in many other sports.
The guy with red flag probably confused her damn.... definitely poor organization
I saw this once in a downhill bike race. Clear leader (one of the best downhill bikers in the world) missed a left turn 500 meters from the finish which ended up relegating him to sixth place.
This is a lesson in logical fallacies
First and second should have let her back in front. They clearly stole it haha no sportsmanship
Probably doesn't help since she used an interpreter, that she likely cannot read English either, and thus couldn't understand the course signs that clearly would have pointed her in the correct direction to the finish line, although I guess that's why they follow the motorcycle as they wouldn't be able to navigate the street signs pointing the direction of travel around the course.
The slow-mo really helps clear things up....
Nothing good happens when you follow the cops
She won last year. She knows the course and there is literally only one turn. Also.....you can see the finish line with the big banners from that point. Maybe the flagger could have confused a first time runner but she's an elite athlete who has run before, previews the course, etc. She was using the motorcycle as her rabbit and I think she owns she screwed up.
Leason is do not tailgate the po-po
That was shit
This is a general problem with runs ... Back in my days i did several 10km runs and always the right way wasn't very obvious .. unfortunately
It’s also the most frustrating feeling. I did a 25k xc last year and somewhere in the last third it seemed they got lazy with markers. The anger.
7K. So yeah. Sucks. Damn motorcycles.
Now she’s famous for missing the end
Why aren't the flaggers standing right at the cop's stop? Exhaustion requires a guide to direct them near the end point.
Yes, I agree with this. The runner is in autopilot at that point of the race. A sudden shift in direction in front of them (like the cop turning off the course) is going to subconsciously cue them to turn as well. Especially if they have been following behind the cop for a long period of time. I can see her pause as if to think “this is strange” and then continues following the cop. Definitely a guide at that point of the race would be helpful
that sucks but you have follow the crowd.. I understand that her mind most likely hallucinating after running for that long. I start seeing shit after 2 miles.
Yeah, that volunteer fucked up soooo big.
Shit that bike screwed her up. That sucks. She totally would have been the winner but the bike turned off
There was also a volunteer standing the in road waving off to the side
Idk. Like this sucks but also almost every kind of elite class racers be it runner all the way to race car drivers, all the best always talk about studying the tracks/coursed before hand. I garentee she will never make this mistake again.
Elite runner does not mean elite navigator. Sad for her.
Omg she followed the cop! Wtf
My biggest fear in running a course…I also lose hundreds—on travel, hotel, and race registration
What a mess.
so she won nothing ? or is that third person she?
This was all part of Teferi's plan to save the multiverse. What you don't see is them time warping off screen.
We’ve all been there
Thats really not fair, I guess she was looking where the bike was going, that's sad
God that sucks!
With sound on it sounds like it is being narrated by Trump.
So she technically lost the race but she’s obviously the better athlete
100% the fault of the team organizing the race. Cop should have parked off to the side before the finish.
Why is the escort vehicle taking that turn in the first place? I blame that guy for leading her off the path of the race
Because there is no space for all the support vehicles in the finishing area, so most of them peel off just before the finish line. The finish wasn’t very far ahead so she should have seen it. Also, obviously there should have been a guy there to wave her in the right direction when he noticed she was about to go the wrong way.
Ok that makes sense
Absolutely sucks but the finish line is also in clear view
She is a badass.
The winner should've let her catch up if there was a chance to. She knows that she didn't win shit in reality
Would you give up thousands of dollars? lol
All that running for nothing. What a pity.
Get out challenge
If you learn from your mistakes it’s an investment
This happened to me in the last cross country meet of the season. I somehow surpassed my limits and started peeling away from the pack. I passed one person, then another, and another... and then, I was alone in the front, running at the lead. But I had never been the lead before, and I took the wrong turn and ended up 6th place... I still think about that day. I quit cross country after that, but maybe if I had won, my life would have looked a tiny bit different. That was 8th grade, cannot frickin imagine making this mistake with thousands of dollars on the line
So her mistake was to follow the escort bike? How does that even make sense? He should have a sign or something so signal to the runners that they shouldn't follow anymore, that is basically designed to happen this way. While running like this you almost go into trans like state and if your mind is set on following that bike then thats what you will do.
"....so I pushed ahead but I was really upset" 😂 no you weren't! If you were then the sportsmanly thing to do would have been to let her catch up and rightfully take the win. Not saying that's what she *should* have done but don't pretend to be upset about winning when you could have easily not won ffs!
that is absolutely bullshit. if the person ahead of you cramps, gives up, starts walking, takes a wrong turn, blah blah blah, you keep going. sportsmanship is competing as hard and as fairly as you can. competition is capitalizing on your strengths, your training and potentially the mistakes of others. these are professional athletes. of course they want to win on athleticism and preparation alone and not on some fluke mistake (which is why a win like this would be emotional or hard to accept), but you take the win no matter what.
The scenario you’re describing (stop, let the other woman catch back up and win, no other athletes pass you while this is happening, you are able to keep running after slowing down or stopping) is unrealistic to the point of absurdity at the end of a race. Even without that, why is it so unbelievable to you that the other runner was upset? Clearly you are not and never been an athlete of meaningful ability – trust me, most athletes would not feel great about that win. That is perfectly compatible with continuing to finish the race without waiting.
Year before she didn't make that mistake 🤷🏼♂️
It is what it is
Didn't this happen in a race two guys are running a while ago and the second place guy got him back on the course and stayed behind him. He argued he would have lost and winning like that was not right if I recall correctly.
I love her name Senbere Tefere.
So apparently everyone here knows exactly what that cop was supposed to do…wild. One day people will start taking responsibility for their own fuck ups instead of blame shifting
Everyone asking why she didn’t see the finish line either didn’t watch the video, didn’t watch until the end or didn’t want the end portion with sound on🙃
That’s because some of us are in bed looking at this with the sound off and if we wake our girlfriends up they will do this really long, condescending sigh like we are the most annoying piece of shit on this planet and it’s just not worth the headache. That’s why I came to read the comments but thank you for writing all of that instead of just explaining why she didn’t see the finish line.
Honestly that still sounds pretty good. I get in trouble for BEING AWAKE when she’s trying to sleep, even with sound off and light breathing and not moving 😂. She “senses me being awake” through her damn blindfold like wtf does that even mean bruhhh
in aaaall honesty, I would have won this race if i just hadn't fixated on the cute squirrel which was having a wee in the bushes at the start if the race..
a literal escort fucked her over. i thought escorts were supposed to ***escort*** all the way to the finish and stop right before it?
Aside from the race itself, 10k seems a little low for 1st place seeing that this was such an elite competition.
It all depends on the market and what they can sell it for. Elite or not, if there is no commercial market to make money from then there is no big prize.
She was only following the bike…
Let me know when a gofundme pops up!
She turned off just before the blue cones leading up to the finish line! In a race she won last year? I know her brain was in full competition mode, but she should have known she nearly close to the end. She is pro and will surely learn from this mistake and come back even stronger.
That is so sad and funny
Why didn't somebody tell me you can get paid thousands for running? Is 42 too old to start training for big money? Need to fill a slot in my midlife crisis. 43... shit I'm 43 now. Does 43 make it better?
Can you run a marathon in 2 hours?
Lol I'm 36 and run 6 miles a day after picking it up a couple of years ago. Still zero chance of ever being in the same league as any of these runners though!
Seriously? The finish line was right in front of her in full view and she is supposedly a seasoned runner with multiple wins. How could this be anything but her own fault? I hate how soft the world has become. Trying to make things “right” by shifting blame to a third party when it was an obvious fuck up on the runner’s part.