Thousands of runners weaved their way through downtown and north Austin on Sunday while competing in the Austin Marathon.
The race, sponsored by AT&T, is the largest marathon in Texas and is expected to bring in $5.2 million for the local economy. The event is on its way to becoming a top 10 marathon in the country, said Austin Mayor Will Wynn, who was one of the participants.
The men's winner of the race was 20-year-old Kenya native Jynocel Basweti who posted a time of 2:14.02. The female winner was Ethopia native Moges Zebenaye who crossed the finish line with a time of 2:39.46.
Basweti said he plans to go on to a marathon in Boston after training in Kenya. He posted a remarkable 4:56 mile in mile number 20 as he pulled away from competitors.
"[My competitors] were far away from me then, so I didn't mean to run so fast," Basweti said. "It was unexpected."
Among the top finishers was Austin native Desiree Ficker, who placed second in the women's marathon.
Ficker said she found the course surprisingly more difficult than expected due to an extended climb and more hills. She finished with a time of 2:40.28 and qualified for the U.S. Olympic marathon try-out.
"Everyone was yelling my name, so I felt like I definitely had the home-court advantage," Ficker said.
Wynn raised funds for MarathonKids, a nonprofit organization that has more than 45,000 Austin children, kindergarten through fifth grade, enrolled in order to improve the health and nutrition of kids, he said.
"In my opinion MarathonKids is the most impressive children's fitness and nutrition program in the country," Wynn said.Among the 11,000 competitors were 173 participants who ran to raise money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, said Kelly Kondon, director of Team in Training. The team, an endurance sport training program, was able to raise more than $400,000 for the society.
The 26.2 mile course started at Town Lake and Riverside Drive heading south before making a U-turn north and making its way through downtown and central Austin all the way to Anderson Lane. Then runners trekked southward on a course that took them right through campus along San Jacinto Boulevard before making it to the finish at Fourth Street and Congress Avenue.
"It was a lot more difficult than I expected it to be," said Tim Olson, a Fort Worth native who finished his third marathon. "The entire course seemed like a climb the whole way."
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