This archive report was first published on 29 September 2021.
On Sunday, September 26, 2021, the Quad Cities Marathon took an unexpected turn when two Kenyan runners, Elijah Mwangangi Saolo and Luke Kibet, accidentally took the wrong route.
Midway through the race, Saolo and Kibet were far ahead of the eventual winner, Tyler Pence from Illinois, when they spotted a race volunteer bicyclist who led them astray.
The volunteer cyclist, instead of turning in the direction of the path, biked straight ahead, causing Saolo and Kibet to follow him.
Pence, 28, seized the opportunity and finished with a personal best of two hours, 15 minutes and six seconds, pocketing the first-place prize of $3,000 (sh331,350).
The win marked the first time an American had won the Quad Cities Marathon since 2001.
After the race, Pence expressed his surprise at the Kenyan runners' mistake, saying, “It was pretty obvious” which way runners were supposed to go.
He added, “I was about 20 seconds back so I kind of saw it happening, but I’m not going to shout,” and “It’s not my job.”
Race officials are reportedly considering how to compensate Saolo and Kibet for their mistake.
According to the race director, Joe Moreno, the volunteer cyclist went the wrong way, but the Kenyans were also at fault for ignoring clear markers and signage.
Moreno explained that the runners had been briefed on the course the day before the race, and that Saolo and Kibet had been automatically disqualified for taking an unofficial route.
The volunteer cyclist later confessed, saying, “I messed up royally.”
It was revealed that Saolo had recently started a GoFundMe page to collect money for himself, his wife, and two children to remain in the U.S.
He had been training ahead of the marathon with his grandfather, Joseph Nzau, a prominent Kenyan runner who won the Quad-City Times Bix 7 twice in the 1980s.
Meanwhile, Ethiopia’s Hirut Guangul won the women’s race for the sixth time and took home the $3,000 prize.
