ORLANDO, Fla. — It can take anywhere from five to seven hours for the average person to complete a 26.2 mile marathon, but not for folks like Nick Hilton of Flagstaff.
The Arizonian athlete ran his race in just two hours, 22 minutes, and 19 seconds.
Hilton is now a two-time gold medalist at the event, having won previously in January 2018.
“It means the world, ever since I won that first one I wanted to come back and do it again.”
[ Mobile users see tweet here. ]
Hilton’s time in 2018 was incrementally faster than today’s splits, taking just over two hours and 17 minutes.
On the women’s side, Giovanna Martins of Brazil crossed the finish line after two hours and 54 minutes:
[ Mobile users see tweet here. ]
In the post-race interview, Channel 9 Sports reporter Christian Bruey asked Hilton if the win makes him feel optimistic for his upcoming U.S. Olympic marathon trials in February:
“It does, yeah it does, I think I’m ready to roll, my fitness is there.
Obviously it’s as long as a long shot could be, but I just want to go have a good experience and have fun in Atlanta.”
It’s estimated that this weekend’s races drew about 75,000 people to Central Florida, surpassing 2019’s attendance by nearly 10,000 runners.
Sunday’s marathon capped a four-race schedule; a 5K on Thursday was followed by a 10K on Friday, and a penultimate half marathon Saturday.
Runners that sought to finish all four races participated in the “Dopey Challenge.”
Sources close to the race tell us that over 8,000 people committed to said challenge, running 48.6 miles in four consecutive days.