A major controversy erupted at the US Half Marathon Championships when Jess McClain, Emma Grace Hurley, and Ednah Kurgat, who were leading the pack with 1.5 miles to go, were misled on the wrong route by lead vehicle. While a protest was filed by the athletes, it got denied. An appeal was filed too, but the jury of appeals found no recourse within the USATF rulebook to alter the results. This led to a lot of criticism, but now not just the USATF, a track club has intervened to fix this chaos.

Atlanta Club started an investigation into what led the vehicle to misguide the three runners and on Sunday, they finally submitted a report full of revelations.

“Atlanta Track Club’s position remains unchanged: We are responsible for the integrity of these championships. We regret that Jess McClain, Emma Grace Hurley, and Ednah Kurgat were impacted by this incident and were unable to be recognized as the top three finishers, reflective of their performance on the course,” the statement read.

Here’s what happened further as per the track club’s report.

At approximately 8:05 a.m., a race-assigned police officer was hit by a car at an intersection that was considered dangerous. “Officer down” broadcast went out and the rest officers nearby hastened out to take action and reach the intersection.

But after the arrival of emergency vehicles, the intersection and the traffic cones had not been reset for the race. Meanwhile, an off-duty policeman who filled in for the struck office was not familiar with the race course, unaware that a footbridge ahead was part of the race route.

The first vehicle driver then arrived at the intersection at 8:20 a.m. In the absence of cones indicating the path and behind a police motorbike, it turned left thinking the race was rerouted and accidentally took the wrong path instead of going up the footbridge.

What happened next prevented things from escalating into a larger chaos.

The runners veered nearly 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) off course before a race official appeared and redirected them. By then, other runners had passed straight, dropping McClain, Hurley, and Kurgat, who had paced the leaders to official finishes of ninth, 12th, and 13th.

As Molly Born, the winner admitted in a post-race interview, “I don’t really feel like the US champion.”

Now, to rectify the financial impact, Atlanta track club has offered to match the prize money: McClain to receive the first-place prize money ($20,000), while Hurley and Kurgat will split the combined second ($12,000) and third-place ($7,500) prize money because they were shoulder-to-shoulder when misdirected.

But even this gesture only addressed the financial side of the controversy, not the recognition they were denied.

Atlanta Half-Marathon misdirection costs elite runners Team USA spots

The 2026 USATF Half Marathon Championships in Atlanta meant more than a finish line. It offered victory, recognition, and U.S. team spots for the World Road Running Championships in Copenhagen. Normally, the top three finishers automatically qualify for the U.S. team, making every position critical.

And in the case of Jess McClain, Emma Grace Hurley, and Ednah Kurgat, they had lost this opportunity! However, by the same token, USATF has indicated that it will look into the situation and will determine the final team selections in May, given the special conditions.

“That team is not officially selected until May,” the governing body said. “USATF will review the events from Atlanta carefully. While we understand athletes are eager to resolve this issue expeditiously our process will ensure an ultimate decision is in the best interest of all the athletes involved.”

Elite runner Jess McClain, eighth in the World Athletics Championships marathon and top American at the 2025 Boston Marathon, expressed bitterness:

“Mistakes happen, and I am sure those who were leading us feel terrible about the outcome. I just hate that the athletes are ALWAYS the ones who pay the price (literally $$$)… time and time again.”

She still trusts USATF and the Atlanta Track Club to make it right for those misdirected. “It sounds like conversations are still being had, so I am choosing to remain hopeful that we’ll soon have a little more clarity than what we left Atlanta with and actionable steps forward,” McClain said.

Hurley and Kurgat, both accomplished national-level Marathon runners with podium finishes in USATF events and strong personal bests, share their frustration.