iStockphoto / PiyapongK
Barely a month after the controversial finish at the Los Angeles Marathon where the leader who ran off course was caught at the finish line and finished 2nd, it has happened again. This time, the leader in the 2026 Delaware Marathon, part of the Delaware Running Festival, got passed with a fraction of a second after think they were coasting to an easy win.
This year’s Delaware Marathon winner, Joshua Jackson, finished with a 6:14/mi pace. As did the second place finisher Carson Mello. Their final time was less than a second apart.
Delaware Marathon Ends In Photo Finish
Clips of the final seconds of the Delaware Marathon went viral on social media. The winner, Joshua Jackson, appears to have been possessed down the stretch. His final 400m of the race were faster than most people can run 400m with fresh legs. He was absolutely FLYING.
Jackson finished with a final clock time of 2:43:13.51 (chip time of 2:43:11.71) while Mello finished with a final clock time of 2:43:14.46, just .95 off of first place. Which is WILD when you look at how much of a lead Carson Mello had down the final stretch and the kick that caught him.
The arm pumping and fists raised in the air. Celebrating before the finish line. An absolutely brutal look.
Every runner is taught to run through the finish line. Heck, even in baseball you are taught to run through first base. You cannot celebrate until its over.
To be caught at 26.2 miles, one second from finishing in first, when you could have mustered up any remaining speed at the finish line had he been looking behind himself to see if he was alone… I hope that doesn’t haunt him for years to come.
How does this keep happening?
Getting caught and passed in a photo finish during a marathon, when the winner believed they were running solo across the finish line, seems like it should be a rare occurrence but it happened about six weeks ago at the Los Angeles Marathon as well.
Just like at the Delaware Marathon, the winner believed they were running across the finish line solo as the 2nd place runner hit unfathomable speed down the stretch. Nathan Martin chased down leader Michael Kimani Kamau over the final meters of the Los Angeles Marathon to win by 0.01 seconds in an epic photo finish.
In case you missed that finish in LA, it mirrors the Delaware Marathon photo finish: