Two marathon frontrunners took the wrong path. Another runner sprinted to the finish and won.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Morning Mix

Two marathon frontrunners took the wrong path. Another runner sprinted to the finish and won the $3,000 prize.

By Andrea Salcedo
Today at 6:33 a.m. EDT

Elijah Mwangangi Saolo and Luke Kibet were so far ahead of the other runners as they sprinted through the final stretch of the annual Quad Cities Marathon on Sunday that something had to go extremely wrong for the pair to lose the first and second places, the Quad-City Times reported.

It did.

Instead of following the designated track, Saolo and Kibet followed a marathon volunteer who mistakenly led both runners off the route, automatically disqualifying the two Kenyans from the 26.2-mile run that begins and ends in downtown Moline, Ill.

Their loss was Tyler Pence’s win.

Pence, the head track and cross-country coach at the University of Illinois Springfield, witnessed everything unfolding and saw his opening. He stuck to the marathon’s path, becoming the first U.S. runner since 2001 to win the race.

{snip}

By Andrea Salcedo
Andrea Salcedo is a reporter on The Washington Post's Morning Mix team. Before joining The Post in 2020, she covered breaking news and features for the New York Times metro desk. Twitter https://twitter.com/andreapsalcedo

[rownesheck]

1. I'm thinking

that "volunteer" was on Pence's payroll. Seems a little too convenient.

The new conspiracy...

[exboyfil]

3. My thoughts exactly

I have a coworker who has the last name of Pence and he ran for Iowa State. I should ask him if this runner is related.

Way to start an international incident with Kenya.

[CurtEastPoint]

2. What say this 'Pence' is related to Dumpsucker Pence and Mother.

Pence was also a three-time Academic All-District selection, and a two-time first-team Academic All-American. He graduated from Southern Indiana in 2016 with a Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education with a minor in mathematics and special education.

[Lefta Dissenter]

4. You're going to be remembered for something

Imagine the completely different story that would have been written about Pence if he had done the right thing. It would have been a heartwarming tearjerker. Instead it’s just a story about a jerk.

🤷‍♀️