TC 10 Mile women's winner gets added $10,000

Sara Hall was awarded $10,000 by Twin Cities Marathon officials Thursday after discovery of a timing error that cost her the title in the USA Track and Field 10-mile championship on Sunday.

The elite women racers in the TC 10 Mile were given a 6-minute, 10-second head start over the elite men in an "equalizer" format. Hall was caught at the finish by men's champion Shadrack Kipchirchir, who was then awarded the $10,000 prize.

The timing error came at the staggered start, Twin Cities Marathon executive director Virginia Brophy Achman said in a release. The women were supposed to get a head start of 6:18.

"I hold the stopwatch that counts down the time between the start of the women and the start of the men, and I called for the starting gun at 6:18 on the watch," Brophy Achman said. "The timing computers show only a 6:10 gap between the starts, so there was clearly a mistake in the process.

"We think it's only fair to award both Sara and Shadrack $10,000 equalizer bonuses, since the execution of the equalizer was in error. We regret the error and will review our process for the future."

When the race ended at the State Capitol building, Kipchirchir and training partner Leonard Korir both outleaned Hall and were clocked in 47:33. Hall, of Redding, Calif., was given a finish time of 53:43.

The TC 10 Mile was designated as the USATF 10-mile national championship. The first finisher, man or woman, receives a bonus of $10,000 on top of the $12,000 prize that comes with the national champion title in both divisions.