DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF) – Cloudy skies were overhead on Sunday for more than 14,000 runners racing through downtown Dallas, stately neighborhoods, and around White Rock Lake over the weekend to finish at Dallas City Hall for the 51st running of the BMW Dallas Marathon Festival. The course was lined with 150,000 cheering spectators, according to organizers.
“Congratulations to all of our runners who crossed the finish line today in our 51st running,” said Paul Lambert, President of runDallas, the BMW Dallas Marathon Festival’s parent organization. “We are excited to welcome runners from all 50 states and 25 countries around the world to experience our first-class event.”
32-year-old Cameron Beckett, of Little Rock, Arkansas, achieved his first, first-place finish with a time of 2:27:01.
“It’s a really great atmosphere,” he said. “A lot of supportive fans. They put on a great race and it’s fun to run it.”
26-year-old Megan Taylor, of Cave Springs, Arkansas, was the women’s first place finisher with a time of 2:45:54.
“The people lining the streets are so encouraging,” she said. “I saw so many people all around the lake. The lake was really hard, windy, and kind of lonely, but people were encouraging the whole time and that really helped.”
The BMW Dallas Marathon Festival has had thousands of participants run its course since 1971, with the record-holders for both the male and female divisions having the title since 2006. The current record in the female division is held by Svetlana Ponomarenko with a time of 2:29:55. The male division record-holder is Moses Kororia with a time of 2:12:04.
The BMW Dallas Marathon Festival hosted its third annual Friday Night Lights Mile event Friday evening on Friday night, a two-lap Grand Prix style race around Dallas City Hall Plaza. More than 800 participants took part in this fun event that offered eight different heats for seniors, kids, elite runners, and even those in costume. The elite heat wrapped up the evening, with the winner running the 1-mile course in just 4:33 minutes.
Thousands of volunteers worked to ensure both participants and spectators had the ultimate Dallas Marathon experience, which included 10,875 gallons of water and 7,800 gallons of Gatorade. It also had 20,000 pieces of fruit at the finish line. 625 gallons of beer were on hand to be consumed at the finish line and post-race party. 112 bags of discarded clothing were collected and donated to local charities.
Copyright 2022. WBAP/KLIF News. All Rights Reserved.
