Updated: 2:14 p.m.

On Sunday, Matthew Palilla, 34, of Bend, was the first person to cross the finish line of the Portland Marathon. But the trophy he should have received ended up going to someone else.

"I came across and they didn't have the finisher's tape set up yet," said Palilla over the phone Tuesday. "I could see them scrambling to set it out."

Just over two minutes later, Nate Bowen, 40, of Los Altos, California crossed the line in third place in the men's division. He was given the first place trophy.

The marathon, which sent 7,000 marathon runners and 3,000 half-marathon runners through the streets of a rainy Portland on Sunday, eventually declared Palilla the winner of the race. But he still doesn't have his trophy.

Nate Bowen

Palilla said he talked to several people at the finish area. "They told me, 'We accidentally gave it to the second place finisher but we can't find him right now.'"

It appears there was also confusion about who finished second. According to the posted times, the second place winner was actually Shaun Frandsen, 39, of Kirkland, Washington.

Over the phone, Frandsen told us that as he finished the race no officials approached him and he was sent through "the chute" with a group of half marathoners.

"I was given the wrong coin and pendant," he said. "They thought I was a half marathoner."

"It felt very anti-climactic," Frandsen said, but added, "Portland Marathon is the 'people's marathon' so maybe elite runners don't receive the same fanfare as they do at other city marathons."

For his part, at the end of the race, Palilla said he was unable to find the race director.

"They weren't able to find it," said Palilla, who added he was cold and wet after the race and needed to get home to Bend. He said he still hasn't been contacted by the marathon.

Palilla, who has been running marathons for around 10 years, won this year's Portland Marathon with a time of 2:36:24, with an average 5:59 mile pace.

Les Smith, event director of the Portland Marathon, said over the phone that the people at the finish line who were tasked with finding the top three men and women and giving them their awards missed Palilla. Instead, they gave the first place trophy to a slightly confused Bowen, who asked why they were giving it to him.

"They said, "Because you won!'" Smith said. After Bowen walked away, the people handling awards realized the mistake.

"They called me up in tears," Smith said. "I told the ladies this is not a problem, we'll simply make him a plaque and get it to him."

Smith said that Bowen was eventually told about the mistake and that Palilla will be given his award.

-- Lizzy Acker

503-221-8052

lacker@oregonian.com, @lizzzyacker