I’ve always wondered what happens at a race if a runner in a different wave runs faster than the first wave finishers. A lot of bigger marathons have separate starts for elite runners and the rest of the pack. Some even just have different waves starting at different hours, like the two starts in Boston.
It turns out that the fastest runner loses.
Arien O’Connel started in the second wave of the Nike Women’s Marathon and ran a 2:55:11. The winning time from the elite pack? 3:06. The ruling? See this SFGate article for details. Pretty lame on behalf of the race and a lame rule for US Track and Field to have in my book.
At least I’ll never have this problem.