I have joked with friends about how second place is first loser, however all moms everywhere would change that and say that you are all winners no matter how you do in the standings. Hopefully, that will be enough for 24-year-old Arien O'Connell, a fifth-grade teacher from New York City, who ran the fastest time in this years Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco, but ended up watching from the stands as the trophies were awarded for the (slower) fastest times for the race.
We all know that in sports and any competitions for that matter that there is going to be a winner and a loser. This year it looks like that is what Nike is a little confused about. The marathon has two starts, one for an "elite" group, and another for the rest of the runners. The fastest time for the elite group was 3 hours, 6 minutes, and 11 seconds. Arien ran the race with the regular runners in 2 hours, 55 minutes. A full 11 minutes faster than the winner of the "elite" group.
Now correct me if I am wrong or mistaken, but don't you win a race if you are the fastest to cross the finish line? From my research about this story, it appears that Nike did not even take into account the times for the "non-elite" group because at the awards ceremony, Arien watched as each time was slower than her time and ultimately went up to the results station and asked a race official to review her finish time.
"They were just flabbergasted," O'Connell said. "I don't think it ever crossed their minds."
No one seemed exactly sure what to do. The trophies had already been handed out and the official results announced. Now organizers seem to be hoping it will all go away.
"At this point," Nike media relations manager Tanya Lopez said Monday, "we've declared our winner."
O'Connell said some race officials actually implied she'd messed up the seeding by not declaring herself an "elite" runner.
"If you're feeling like you're going to be a leader," race producer Dan Hirsch said Monday, "you should be in the elite pack."
So this is her fault? O'Connell was just being modest.
"I'm a good, solid runner," she said. "I never considered myself elite." [C.W Neevius, San Francisco Chronicle]
I like to think that I am a runner, at least that there is one trapped inside of me, and so I emailed Nike that I would seriously consider any future purchases with them. I mean, running a marathon in and of itself is amazing, and then having the best run of your life would be even better, but Nike missed the cinderella story of a lifetime by not jumping on this woman and making her their next ad campaign. Who doesn't think that with enough training (and I used to imagine myself with swooshes all over my clothes when I did it, ok actually I didn't) you could be the best and come out on top. I guess Nike doesn't. They think only a certain small group can actually win and the rest of us should just purchase their merchandise.
Ultimately, Nike recanted their decision that she was not the winner and awarded her a trophy and said she was "a" winner. She was not "the" winner by 11 mintes, she was "a" winner. This only took their PR department three days to convince the rest of the company. Sounds like I need to start purchasing my atheletic gear and shoes with a company that values an athelete for their accomplishments.
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