The Most HUMILIATING DEFEAT In Track & Field History

This is the finish line from this year's Houston Half Marathon. A nail-biting finish, with two athletes finally separating themselves from the other runners over the final 200 meters. For the previous 59 minutes, these world-class distance runners had been cranking out 4 minute and 30 second miles, blazing the streets of Houston like madmen possessed. But now, it finally came down to this. And despite what you may have heard about this finish, this is what actually happened come the end of this year's Houston Half Marathon. Coming in first in this race was Adizu Gobena from Ethiopia, and finishing less than 1 tenth of a second behind was Connor Mance from the United States. Both athletes were given times of 59 minutes and 17 seconds, which equates to an overall pace of 4.31 per mile. But because of this box-out strategy at the end, Gobena was able to take down Mance by just 0.04 seconds. If you're paying attention, you might think that something is off about this finish. And that's because it is. Over these final moments, Gobena cuts to the left, impedes Mance from charging to the lead, and in the process, he manages to block Mance from reaching the finish line, and they almost hit the person holding the finish line right here. This is illegal. In track and field and in road running, rules clearly state that impeding another athlete is grounds for disqualification. And to be more specific, I'll put the full rules on the screen, which states that any competitor who deliberately obstructs or hinders another athlete's progress during a race by running out of their lane, Am I missing something here? In watching this race over and over and over again, I found myself at a crossroads. Do I just accept the results as published by the Houston Half, or do I raise the situation to a bigger audience? This just wasn't right. And only adding to the drama of this situation was the fact that Connor Mance just did something that I have literally been waiting 18 years to witness. As his race took down one of the longest standing American records in all of athletics. You see, all the way back in 2007, Ryan Hall became the first United States runner to break the one hour barrier for the half marathon, running his previous American record in 59 minutes and 43 seconds. And this picture right here was burned into my memory forever. This record was huge for many reasons. It was one of the first live streamed races that I got to witness. It was a groundbreaking moment in the half marathon. And I was also a huge Ryan Hall fan when I was younger, as I watched him compete in high school and at Stanford. By all accounts, Hall's 59.43 was one of the most famous American records that I had ever gotten to witness. And for Connor Mance, he just crushed the national record by 26 seconds. And he actually did it in the exact same city as Hall's previous time was also achieved in Houston. Mance's time and half marathon effort were both absolutely incredible. And regardless of the finish, he still now is the proud owner of the American record in the half marathon. But the issue of whether or not this finish was actually legal still stands. After this half marathon finished, many people went online to express their frustrations and their concerns, calling for a DQ for Gobena's actions. And even a few online articles have been written expressing the exact same frustrations. Now, from my perspective, it's pretty cut and dry that this was in fact a real impeding issue.