868. Emma Grace Hurley's 2026 USATF Half Marathon Championships Recap
Ali on the Run Show
Ali Feller
4.9 • 4.2K Ratings
🗓️ 5 March 2026
⏱️ 75 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
"It's been a really, really tough couple days. I've never been such a combination of stressed and sad."
At Sunday's USA Track and Field Half Marathon Championships in Atlanta, the top three women — Jess McClain, Emma Grace Hurley, and Ednah Kurgat — were led off course in the final mile of the race. The three were on track to take the podium, and to earn spots to represent the United States on a World Championship team. All signs were pointing to Jess, Emma Grace, and Ednah becoming Team USA ahead of the 2026 World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen this September. National titles, prize money, sponsor bonuses, and, of course, the glory of breaking the tape and earning that moment were all on the line.
Much has been said about the race, the misdirection, and the immediate aftermath. Molly Born ultimately broke the tape, as Jess, Emma Grace, and Ednah clawed their way back into the mix. But what happens now? The one unanimous takeaway from that day in Atlanta is that no one feels good about how the day played out.
Today, Emma Grace Hurley comes to us from her much-deserved post-race vacation in the Cayman Islands to offer her unique perspective on all of this. Emma Grace spent the early years of her running career as a member of Atlanta Track Club Elite. She has served on committees for USA Track and Field, and currently lives in Indianapolis, where she is coached by former Atlanta Track Club Elite coach Andrew Begley. Emma Grace has a deeper understanding than most about how these various organizations work, about what goes into pulling off a road race of this scale and, of course, about what it's like being an athlete with so much at stake.
FOLLOW EMMA GRACE @emmagracehurley
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Allie on the Run show. I'm your host, Allie Feller, and this is where I talk |
| 0:09.1 | with people who are doing exciting things on the run and beyond. From professional athletes and |
| 0:14.7 | celebrity runners to the everyday amateur and back of the pack runner, we are here to celebrate |
| 0:19.6 | everyone and anyone who enjoys a life |
| 0:22.3 | on the run. So whether you're running towards something big or away from something that has |
| 0:26.6 | been holding you back, I am here to hold your hand and help you pick up the pace. What a weekend on |
| 0:32.3 | the run. Oh boy. At Sunday's USA Track and Field half marathon championships in Atlanta, the top three |
| 0:39.4 | women, Jess McLean, Emma Grace Hurley, and Edna Kergot were led off course in the final |
| 0:44.9 | mile of the race. The three were on track to take the podium and to earn spots to represent |
| 0:50.1 | the United States on a world championship team. All signs at this point in the race were pointing to Jess, Emma Grace, and Edna becoming |
| 0:58.2 | Team USA ahead of the 2026 World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen this September. |
| 1:06.1 | National titles, prize money, sponsor bonuses, and of course the glory of breaking the tape |
| 1:10.7 | and earning that moment |
| 1:11.7 | were all on the line for these women. Much has been said about this race, about the misdirection, |
| 1:18.3 | and about the aftermath. Molly Bourne ultimately broke the tape as Jess, Emma Grace, and Edna clawed |
| 1:23.4 | their way back into the mix. But what happens now? The one unanimous takeaway from that day in Atlanta |
| 1:29.0 | is that no one feels good about how the day played out. Certainly not the athletes, but I think you'll |
| 1:34.9 | also be hard pressed to find anyone at USA Track and Field, at Atlanta Track Club, or even fans in the |
| 1:41.2 | running community who are thinking, hey, that was a great successful day of road racing. |
| 1:46.5 | My heart really goes out to Jess, Emma Grace, and Edna, but also to Molly Bourne, Carrie Elwood, and Annie Rodenfels, |
| 1:53.5 | who became the official top three in the race and have all shared publicly that this is not how you want to make a world team. |
| 2:00.5 | So we can say a lot about all of it, |
... |
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