I ran my fifth half marathon yesterday. My time was nothing to write home about. I finished in 2:50:22. That placed me 3,992 out of 4,256 finishers, which I think puts me in the bottom 6%. Among men aged 45-49, I placed 258 out of 264, which is the bottom 2%. I was five minutes slower than last year and 16 minutes slower than my personal best from 2008. I have to remind myself that the first time I ran the race, it was to see if I could finish. For the fifth straight year, I did finish.
While the news stories in today's paper focused on the Kenyans and Ethiopians at the front of the pack, I would like to point out a few remarkable individuals who were not in this group.
The oldest man to finish the race was Joe Barger of Austin, age 85, who finished in 2:40:48. Way to go, Joe. At 85, some people have trouble walking across the room. You completed a half marathon and did it faster than me.
The oldest woman to finish the race was Vonda Lee Adorno of Austin, age 76. Her time of 2:28:23 was 22 minutes faster than mine. Way to go.
The youngest girls in the race were just 14. The fastest 14 year old was Brenna Lanford of Cameron, who flew through the course at 1:42:05.
The youngest boys in the race were 13 years old. The fastest of the youngest was Ryan Mata of Dripping Springs, whose time was 1:45:26.
The final remarkable thing about the race was that 5,750 people would get up in order to be at the starting line at 6:45 a.m. on a Sunday morning and proceed to push themselves through 13.1 miles of Austin roads. To all who ran, I salute you.
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