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http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/DearNike

My first reaction is to boycott Nike, I can’t possibly reward them with money.

By the way, you can sign a petition of support for real winner Arien O’Connell that will eventually get to Nike, here… http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/DearNike

You can leave comments with your e-signature. One guy put it very well, “…Nike, isn’t your motto: “Just Do It”? Guess what? Arien O’Connell did it.”

But I have to admit another thought comes to mind…The race was about empowering women. Why don’t the women who were incorrectly awarded higher placements come forward and do the right thing? They know better too, they know the difference between right and wrong too. What does their inaction say about them, eh? Tsk, tsk.

I emailed Nike with my disappointment yesterday (I used alot stronger language in their email) and here is their response.

Congrats Arien, you deserve it!!!

Response (Dean) - 10/22/2008 07:11 AM
Hello,

Nike is announcing today that it recognizes Arien O’Connell as a winner in last
weekend’s Nike Women’s Marathon with the fastest chip time, completing the full
race in 2:55:11. She shattered her previous time and achieved an amazing
accomplishment.

Arien will receive the same recognition and prize, including a Tiffany bowl, the
full marathon elite group winner received. Arien was unfortunately not
immediately recognized as a race winner because she did not start the race with
the elite running group, which is required by USATF standards. Because of their
earlier start time, the runners in the elite group had no knowledge of the
outstanding race Arien was running and could not adjust their strategies
accordingly.

Learning from the unique experience in this year’s race, Nike has decided today
to eliminate the elite running group from future Nike Women’s Marathons. Next
year, all runners will run in the same group and all will be eligible to win.

Nike has a proven track record of supporting athletes and we’re proud to be able
to honor Arien and other athletes who surpass their goals and achieve great
accomplishments.

Sincerely,

Nike+ / Nike Running

As another opinion not to reduce or belittle Arien’s accomplishment of which she should be very proud.

I think we all agree sports have rules and some from the outside seem unfair but they are the rules of competition and must be followed. If all participants follow the same rules then it is fair.

Consider this: Often times in racing the registration forms you fill out provide choices to make including which group to compete in. These spell out the groupings that will occur and how final positions for the race will be determined. When you choose your group you agree to the limits that come with that group. Runners in High School are either competing Varsity or Junior Varsity and just because a JV competitor has a great day and has the best time in an event the points still score to the JV team not the Varsity. A choice was made, an athlete overcame and excelled but the choice was made.

Let’s consider some advantages she may have gained running in the group not containing the elite runners. By running at a different time she would have experienced different course and environmental conditions then the “elite” group. The group of runners that she would have jostled with for position at times during the race in the “elite” group were not around during her “open” run. In fighting for position and running space it takes more energy and changes your stride, something she may well have experienced more of running with a group of runners in the “elite” group. The other runners have you as inspiration to give more of themselves that even they did not know they had if you are pushing them (same may have gone for her). By running in the “open” group she gained the possible advantage of running free of other runners for much or nearly all of the race which she probably would not have had in the “elite” group. Environmental conditions may have changed in twenty minutes (rain, wind, temperature) that made it better to run in the later race. It is not a sure thing that the early race is better, it may have been an unusually cool morning so the early runners were a little stiffer and slower out. Wind direction and/or intensity may have changed in critical parts of the course in 20 minutes.

This is a race designed to run as a group start and see who gets it done best not one where you can choose your group and your time and later say “Hey what about me?” If she ran the same course 24 hours later with nobody else but an official starter and clock does this mean she wins the race. It is not as simple as a starting line, finish line and a clock. The variables are too many to mention in one comment.

She chose to run with a different group. From the sounds of things a group that pitted herself against herself rather than other competitors. The group I coach my kids to see themselves in every time they race because when you do that you have a finite goal, your last Personal Record, and it is fully in your control if you win todays race against yourself.

Arien should walk away with her head held high and be proud of the new PR! Congratulations Arien! Next time you have earned the right to not be so modest, choose the “elite” group and show them what a fifth grade teacher can really do!

Can anyone post the links to the rules per group? I prefer to read for myself what was what…

I went to http://www.nike.com. For some reason when it loads and reads, “Done”… I get nothing. I updated my necessary software and tried to adjust my AV to make sure it wasn’t blocking the site, but it still won’t load.

Thank you.

[...] that followed the Nike’s Woman’s Marathon in San Francisco was predictable. It was simply unfair to Arien O’Connell. Nike has corrected the [...]

It appears that by the response given from Nike to Leo above the race was sanctioned by USA Track & Field (USATF) this is the official organization within which runners and track competitors qualify for the Olympics. You compete within this organizations regulations if you desire to someday try to represent the US in the Olympics.

You can find the rules of competition under their sanctions here http://www.usatf.org/about/rules/2008/.

As a side note Nike is not limited to the recognition they want to privately give to runners. As such I believe their choice to recognize Arien’s efforts after the fact with a similar prize package is commendable and will do very little to hurt their bottom line, in fact it may very well pay off big for them.

During the Chicago Half Marathon in October, a friend had to start with the 10 min pace group instead of the 9 because the course was too jammed to move. At the end of the race, he found that he’d run an additional 3 miles just dodging all of the slower runners and walkers! Wonder how many additional miles Arien O’Connell had to run in San Francisco?!? A lot of walkers and slower paced runners like to start as close to the start line as possible in order to not get swept from the race (we found ourselves running sideways quite a bit in San Francisco, even though we started with our pace group) ………….. I think Arien’s race was a lot tougher than what the elites experienced.