Following on from Jose de Morias victory in the half marathon, Fredison Costa, pictured above, from Votorantim, Brazil made it a clean sweep for his home nation in today’s 2012 Walt Disney World Marathon as he crossed the finish line 14 seconds ahead of fellow countryman and seven time Disney titleholder, Adriano Bastos of Sao Paulo. Costa recorded a time of 2:19.02 as he successfully defended the Disney marathon title he won last year.
In the women’s section Renee High, pictured above, from Virginia Beach recorded a time of 2:48:35 nearly five minutes ahead of second placed Emily Kroshus of Boston.
I made an early morning start this morning to attend my first Walt Disney World half-marathon. It didn’t look too good as I hit World Drive and saw the thousands of cars backing up but after a while I was soon parking at the Epcot parking lot before wandering over to the start line.
There was a lot of activity leading up to the start of the half – marathon as various reality TV stars (Trista & Ryan Sutter, above left, from The Bachelor, Ethan Zohn and Jenna Morasca, above right, from Survivor & The Amazing Race) were introduced before Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse and Goofy started the runners on their way.
Jose de Morias from Sao Paulo, Brazil, was the first of the men to return as he completed the 13.1 mile course in just one hour and ten minutes. “It is a dream come true to win,” de Morias said through a translator.
Rosa Chacha, 29, of Quito, Ecuador, was the top women’s finisher in 1:16:43 and she was one of a record 26,500 runners participating in the half marathon, which began and ended in Epcot after taking runners through Magic Kingdom. “I feel good, happy, for participating in Orlando for the first time,” Chacha said through a translator.
The winner of the handcrank race was John Curtin, pictured above.
Tomorrow sees the full Disney Marathon and more than 16,000 people are expected to run.
