Maurya Lacey top female in 2015 Albany Half Marathon

ALBANY — Thanks to a correction, runner Maurya Lacey of Alpharetta has been recognized as the true winner of the female division of Saturday’s Albany Half-Marathon.

When preliminary race results were posted near the finish line Saturday, they showed Jan Rogan of Chattanooga, Tenn., had taken the top slot in that division with a race time of 1:18:52. Lacey was declared the second-place finisher with a race time of 1:29:47, followed by Jennifer Perkins of Albany with a third-place time of 1:31:23.

Within hours of the Herald’s original story being published, comments were posted to Facebook saying that Lacey was the real winner. The Herald also received an email stating that Lacey was the winner and that a man had been wearing Rogan’s race bib.

After consulting with Marathon Director Rashelle Beasley of the Albany Convention & Visitors Bureau, it became apparent that the person listed as “Jan Rogan” on the preliminary report was actually Ian Rogan of Chattanooga, Tenn., who had registered for the event as a male.

Beasley searched for Rogan’s original, hand-written entry form and discovered that someone had incorrectly read Rogan’s first name as Jan, instead of Ian. When “Jan Rogan” appeared on the preliminary race reports, the assumption was that someone named “Jan” was a female.

“I could see where someone would have read that as Jan,” said Beasley. “It was an honest mistake.”

Beasley went on to explain that there is a grace period after the finish to allow for any oversights or challenges of times to be corrected.

“There is a grace period where anyone can protest a time or any issues they may see,” said Beasley. “We’ve had discrepancies in the past, but they’ve never affected a winner.”

Beasley also explained that because the Albany Marathon is a United States Track and Field-certified race that serves as a qualifier for the Boston Marathon, there is considerable oversight put in place to monitor times.

Photographers are positioned throughout the race course to record runners’ progress, and there are timing pads along the course as well that help keep track of split times. When runners cross the race pads, and the start and finish lines, a microchip in the numbered bib electronically records the bib number and the time.

The monitoring is one of the things that Lacey said she likes about the Albany event, which she has now run three times. When contacted about the situation, Lacey was understanding about the confusion and had nothing but praise for the Albany Marathon.

“At first I was a little sad, but it’s been corrected,” she said. “I had a great time. I have a group of friends that came down because it’s a great course. It’s a great race and a great organization. We’re definitely going to continue coming.”

While much of the confusion centered around Lacey’s recognition of earning first place, the runner was quick to point out that the mistake also had an impact on the other runners who might not have realized that they had placed.

As it turns out, Lacey’s moving up in the standings created a domino effect, moving Perkins into second and Maegan Garritson of Lanett, Ala., with a finishing time of 1:35:18, into third place.

For his part, Rogan did place fourth overall and first in the men’s 21-24 division in Saturday’s half-marathon.