More than 24,000 runners turned out for a warm and humid race during Sunday’s Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon.
University of Oklahoma assistant volunteer running coach Patrick Gomez won the 2016 race with a time of two hours, 38 minutes. It was his first marathon.
“The crowd support was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced,” Gomez said afterward. “One runner even stopped his race to work out the cramping in my legs.”
It was a photo finish for the top two women’s marathoners. Less than a second separated Edmond’s Catherine Lisle from the second-place women's finisher Danielle Hodge, an Iowa resident. Hodge actually broke the tape first, but started the marathon shortly after Lisle. It’s Lisle’s second Marathon win, and she’s no stranger to close finishes. Only one second separated her from the second-place women’s finisher when she won the 2010 race.
Former Oklahoma State University cross country runner Brian Gohlke won the half marathon, and Oklahoma City resident Ashley Miller was the top women's finisher in that race for the second year in a row.
Your 2016 #OKCMarathon Male winner, Patrick Gomez! pic.twitter.com/z9AShcwpCX
— OKCMemorialMarathon (@OKCMarathon) April 24, 2016
We run to remember. #OKCMarathon pic.twitter.com/5927swWyl2
— Sen. James Lankford (@SenatorLankford) April 24, 2016
A community became unified by an act that was meant to tear us apart. #OKCMarathon pic.twitter.com/FSyohmvL11
— Zac Fowler (@Zac_Fowler) April 25, 2016
When you think you can't take another step ... Just do it. #OKCMarathon @kfor pic.twitter.com/aV6VBRy4Qg
— Lance West (@lancewest) April 24, 2016
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