30,000 runners participate in BMW Dallas Marathon Festival, including a hashbrown enthusiast dressed as a potato
Thirty-thousand runners hit the pavement for races in the BMW Dallas Marathon Festival, sponsored in part by CBS News Texas. Runners battled the humidity and wet weather for the 53rd annual event.
A sea of runners kicked off the marathon and half marathon Sunday morning, and one of them had people asking questions.
"Potatoes? Why are you wearing a potato costume?" Izzy Aguiar said.
Aguiar ran the half marathon looking spud-tacular after winning the "Speedy Spud" national contest.
"I'm a speedy spud. I'm repping Potatoes USA. I'm here to show that you can train for a half marathon and reap the nutritional benefits with potatoes," Aguiar said.
The Texas Christian University medical school student wanted to show the health benefits of the vegetable and the importance of not being a couch potato.
"I'm just going to show all the nutritional aspects of potatoes that people probably don't know about, like how rich they are in carbs, and potatoes actually have more potassium than just like a normal-sized banana," Aguiar said.
Another runner who wore red, white, and blue stood out.
"I figured if I was going to be a fool at running, I should draw more attention to myself," John Houston said.
Houston ran the first seven miles of a relay.
"It's my 10th year out here. I usually do it as a relay," Houston said. "This body wasn't made for the full marathon, so I like to come out here and do the relay with a bunch of coworkers."
CBS News Texas spoke to the male and female half marathon winners. To say their training to prepare for this big day is intense would be an understatement.
Twenty-six-year-old Adam Moore is from England and won the male half marathon with a time of 1:06.19.
"I've been running about 90 to 100 miles a week, which is basically running every single day," Moore said. "I actually help coach my wife, too. I do some of my runs with her."
Twenty-seven-year-old Mimi Smith won the female half marathon with a time of 1:15.34. This is the third straight year she's won.
"On average, I train pretty much seven days a week. I rarely take off days, but I run anywhere from 65 to 80 miles per week for my marathon and half marathon training," Smith said.
Ryan Davis, 15, won the wheeler half marathon and also trains hard.
"I train about five, six, seven days a week. I alternate between short workouts, like some sprinting and then I usually have maybe two, maybe three long runs," Davis said.
The runners, including "Speedy Spud," hope to show the importance of perseverance and mindset.
"I think I can best show how hard the potato could fly on race day," Aguiar said.
Aguiar hit a time of 1:39 as her running career continues to sprout.
