Santa Rosa Marathon official speaks up about snafu

Santa Rosa Marathon co-founder Arthur Webb on Tuesday offered clarity about the finish of the women's race Sunday that briefly resulted in the wrong woman being honored as fastest finisher.

Wendy Jennings, 49, of Huntington Beach crossed the line with a 2:41:23 finish but when Caroline Boller, 40, of Solvang finished approximately four minutes later, she alerted race officials that Jennings had not been seen on the course.

Jennings, who according to race officials answered in the affirmative both times she was asked whether she had completed the full course, missed two of the four timing checkpoints on the course, according to Webb. In a post-race interview, Jennings did not correct a reporter's questions about her 'win.'

But in an interview Monday, Jennings said an injury forced her to cut short her marathon ambitions and complete an unofficial half marathon instead. Jennings claimed she told 'race officials' she had only completed half of the full course.

Webb refuted that claim but did not allege that Jennings purposely cheated.

'The biggest issue for everybody — when the lady was announced as winner and she crossed the finish line there would have been nothing there if she would have walked over and said, 'I did the half.' There would have been nothing there. That would have been it,' Webb said.

Webb indicated Jennings could have been suffering from exhaustion or some race-related medical issue.

Race timer Jeannine Henderson 'went out there and asked, 'Did you run the whole 26 miles?' And she said, 'Yes,' ' Webb said. 'But you know what? When your mind is in that condition, you can't translate anything. She could have thought that.'

'She was having problems,' he said. 'She had no intent of cheating.'

Webb, who has run 15 Badwater 135-mile ultramarathons, said he knows well the confusion that can mount in the course of a grueling race.

'I've been in that position,' he said. 'Sometimes you are cooked. All you are thinking about is getting across that finish.'

When Boller, a sponsored ultra-runner for Nike, crossed the finish line minutes later, she immediately notified race officials that Jennings wasn't the true winner, Webb said.

'She said, 'This lady was never in the mix at all,' ' he said. 'I said 'OK, come on.' We walked right over to Jeannine the timer lady and she had the printout for the lady.'

'There are four checkpoints and two of them were missing, so obviously she didn't run the whole marathon,' he said.

Webb said he immediately disqualified Jennings.

'I don't know if she had a medical condition, if she cheated, I don't care,' he said. 'No confusion — that was the last thing I wanted.'

Webb expressed frustration that the finish prompted questions over the marathon's status as a Boston Marathon qualifying race, saying it was handled as efficiently as possible.

It is the second time in three outings that presumptive top finishers have been disqualified from the marathon. In 2013, race officials disqualified the first three male runners to cross the finish line after learning they followed the wrong path for a portion of the race, allowing them to overtake another runner who ran the correct course.

Representatives from the Boston Athletic Association, which has administered the Boston Marathon since its inception in 1897, didn't immediately respond Tuesday to questions about Santa Rosa Marathon's certification status or whether the two recent disqualifications are problematic.

Since Sunday, marathon race director Orhan Sarabi, a Santa Rosa resident, has not returned dozens of phone calls, texts, emails and social media requests requesting comment.

Press Democrat sports writer Lori A. Carter contributed to this report.