Nike = FAIL

This article made it rounds on Twitter today. It seems that the woman who ran the fastest time didn't win because she was not registered as an "elite". What? I'm sorry, that's crap. If she ran faster than anyone else then didn't she win?

"At this point," Nike media relations manager Tanya Lopez said Monday, "we've declared our winner."

Okay, Ms. Lopez, you declared a winner but not the correct winner. You may have declared the top three elites, but clearly, Arien O'Connell ran a faster race.

According to Jim Estes, associate director of the long-distance running program for USA Track and Field, "The theory is that, because they had separate starts, they weren't in the same race."


Run Together? Well, Maybe Not...

If they weren't running the same race, then shouldn't there have been prizes for this other race?

It extremely frustrating to me that Nike, the top sponsor for this race chose to snub their noses at Arien O'Connell. What a missed opportunity for Nike to admit their mistake, or lack of forethought, and create an award for the fastest time, or something. If I were Nike I would be on the phone with Arien O'Connell right now making this right!

If I were in the marketing department of another shoe and clothing company, perhaps Reebok, Adidas, Sauconny, Asics, you get the idea... I would try to right Nike's wrong for them!

Nike, you still have a few minutes to redeem yourselves, but the clock is ticking.