Girma Bedada Wins The 2013 Marine Corps Marathon

Girma Bedada Wins The 2013 Marine Corps Marathon

Applause from the crowd greeted Girma Bedada as he approached the finish line at the Marine Corps Marathon. No other runner was in sight when he went past through the finish line as the first person to finish the race that attracted nearly 30,000 participants.

Bedada finished the race within two hours, 21 minutes and 32 seconds. In second place was Patrick Fernandez of Alexandria, who was nearly a minute behind the winner. Richard Morris of Burkesville came in third place in the men’s competition. The first woman to finish the race was Kelly Calway of Colorado with 2:42:16. She was followed by Gina Slaby of Virginia Beach with 2:48:04.

The win of Bedada at the Marine Corps Marathon did not come as a surprise as he was among the favorites in the race. However, the margin of his victory was considered remarkable as the Ethiopian started to pull away from Fernandez at the first mile mark.

Fernandez dominated the second spot when he reached Hains Point. In addition to the increased security following the bombing at the Boston Marathon last April, this year’s Marine Corps Marathon saw the course restructured as the terrain was nearly flat from the sixth to the ninth miles. The relatively flat terrain facilitated the faster finishing times in the race.

Calway dominated the women’s race at around the eighth mile, when she took the lead. She was not able to train for the marathon due to her job at the US Army station in Fort Carson, Colorado. This made the race extra painful for her.

She found her second wind later in the race. She added that she will be deployed to Kuwait next week, which made the day big for her since she was able to spend time with her family, including her six-year-old daughter.

She said the 2013 Marine Corps Marathon was the last trip for her before she will leave for the Middle East.

Posted by Andre Monohan on Monday October 28 2013, 3:29 AM EST. Ref: Washington Post. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0