An Argentinian runner on his first trip to the United States wound up winning Sunday’s Route 66 Marathon in Tulsa — the first person from his nation to win a U.S. marathon in 85 years.
Eduardo Rafael Lencina, 40, finished in a time of 2 hours, 34 minutes, 10 seconds in the 26.2-mile footrace, which crossed alignments of Route 66 in the city.
Lencina told the newspaper he struggled after the 21st mile. But his torrid pace gave him such a big lead, it didn’t matter.
The Tulsa World reports the last Argentina runner to win a marathon on American soil was Juan Carlos Zabala, who won the gold medal in the marathon at the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles.
To top it off, Lencina also won Saturday’s Route 66 five-kilometer race.
Stuart Lisle, 34, of Edmond, Oklahoma, was runner-up, about 5 1/2 minutes behind Lencina, with a time of 2:40:04. Joe Nigh, 24, of Tulsa finished third in 2:46:19.
In the women’s division,Amie Smith, 39, of Austin, Texas, finished first with a time of 3:10:31.
Gina Hendrickson, 41, of Edmond, Oklahoma, took second in a photo finish against Katie Kramer-Ochoa, 38. Hendrickson was about six minutes behind the winner.
A total participant count wasn’t available Sunday night, but the results page indicated well over 1,800 athletes took part in the day’s races.
Race-time temperatures were in the mid-30s, which sounds chilly for mere mortals. But those are fairly agreeable conditions for the rigors of running more than 26 miles on undulating terrain.
Next year’s Route 66 Marathon will be Nov. 17-18.
(Images of the 2017 Route 66 Marathon medallions via Facebook)