Katie Koski learned a lesson as a 19-year-old when she wore a race number registered to someone else.
The Duluth runner finished third in the event, the 1992 Garry Bjorklund Half-Marathon, but didn't realize exchanging numbers is illegal in most races. She got a serious talking to by race director Scott Keenan.
Koski, 35, relived that lesson a week ago today in the Philadelphia Half-Marathon when she believed she finished second in the women's race, then was told she was third. No. 17208, registered to Jacqueline Fillinger, initially was listed as the runner-up.
"I started out behind the winning woman runner. I could see her ahead of me for a while, and all along the course I was told that I was the No. 2 woman," Koski, one of the most successful woman road racers in Duluth history, said Friday.
At stake, besides pride, was a difference of $500. Second place was worth $1,000 and third place $500.
ADVERTISEMENT
After talking with race officials after the race, Koski took her story to a discussion area on the Web site LetsRun.com. On Wednesday a contributor found a photo of the runner wearing No. 17208 -- a male runner. The posting was labeled "Case Closed."
Koski talked with David Simms of SAI Timing & Tracking, in charge of the Philadelphia Half-Marathon results, and officially was told Friday she was second.
Kathleen Jobes, 38, of Bethlehem, Pa., won the women's race and was 18th overall in a field of 5,302 in 1 hour, 16 minutes, 17 seconds and won $2,500 on a 28-degree morning. Koski, an English teacher at Hibbing Community College, was 24th overall in 1:19:17, her second-best half-marathon time after placing fifth in this year's Garry Bjorklund Half-Marathon in 1:18:29.
