At Women's Marathon, fastest time didn't win

[underpants]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/20/BAUC13L3GQ.DTL

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

There were over 20,000 competitors in Sunday's Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco. And 24-year-old Arien O'Connell, a fifth-grade teacher from New York City, ran the fastest time of any of the women.

But she didn't win.

At the awards ceremony, the O'Connell clan looked on as the top times were announced and the "elite" female runners stepped forward to accept their trophies.

"They called out the third-place time and I thought, 'I was faster than that,' " she said. "Then they called out the second-place time and I was faster than that. And then they called out the first-place time (3:06), and I said, 'Heck, I'm faster than her first-place time, too.' "

Just to make sure, O'Connell strolled over to a results station and asked a race official to call up her time on the computer. There it was, some 11 minutes faster than the official winner.

"They were just flabbergasted," O'Connell said. "I don't think it ever crossed their minds."


UPDATE
Nike fudges, recognizes fastest marathon runner as "a" winner

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/22/BACI13MAIT.DTL

Marathon runner Arien O'Connell will be a winner after all.

Not the winner - "a" winner. Notice the distinction.

"She told me they had been getting lots of calls and e-mails," said O'Connell, a fifth-grade teacher in New York City. "She said they were going to send me the same prize as the one awarded to the winner."

[Captain Hilts]

1. Kinda like profs in grad school helping those that went to Ivy League schools as undergrads....

We don't all have the same starting line.

[a la izquierda]

2. I'll get back to you, oh, in a year and a half...

we'll see if your theory still holds up :)

That is, if I'm understanding your thought process correctly.