Joseph Hale and Yanet Castro Aguilar won the men’s and women’s marathons, respectively
Most of Sunday’s runners at the BMW Dallas Marathon had been waiting two years to feel the euphoria of crossing the finish line in front of city hall.
Joseph Hale had three years of waiting under his belt after finishing fourth in 2018 and not running the race in 2019.
So when the Dallas resident crossed the finish line to win the 50th Dallas Marathon with a time of 2:28:42, he pumped his fist and let out a celebratory yell.
“It’s literally more than a life goal,” Hale said. “I don’t get emotional very often, but I’m going to get emotional about this.”
Joseph Hale crossing the finish line with a time of 2:28:42 to become the winner of the 50th Dallas Marathon.“I’ve literally dreamed of running that corridor for the last three years,” he said.
He just edged runner-up Joseph Darda of Fort Worth, who was about 20 to 30 seconds behind for the last 12 miles of the race. Darda crossed the finish line with a time of 2 hours, 29 minutes, 14 seconds.
Hale said having someone right behind pushed him to go harder but also forced him to be strategic.
This was the second straight weekend Hale finished a marathon.
He ran the California International Marathon the previous Sunday in Sacramento, Calif., finishing with a time of 2:26:44. He said he felt the mileage in his legs by the 10th or 11th mile.
“I wasn’t going for time; that’s what my race last week was about,” Hale said. “I actually don’t really know my time. I don’t really care. I won.”
More than 17,500 runners competed in Sunday’s races, and over 26,000 people competed over the entire weekend, which set a record.
The women’s winner was Solyenetzitl Selene Yanet Castro Aguilar of Zacatecas, Mexico, who finished with a time of 2:52:20.
She spent the first part of the race pacing with another competitor but, unbeknownst to her, the other runner was running the half marathon and soon split off in a different direction.
Castro Aguilar said she has been dealing with injuries over the past few years. She has spent the past three months training very hard for Sunday, and she took full advantage of the opportunity.
“I’ve been waiting three years to run this,” she said through a translator. “I was very happy and smiling all the way.”
It was the first marathon for Bradley. She ran at Baylor and was an NCAA cross country championship individual qualifier in 2017.
“This is kind of a full-circle moment because I went through some injuries that at the time I thought were career ending,” Bradley said. “To be able to run a marathon, it’s like all my dreams coming true.”
It was a banner year for first-time competitors. Both half marathon winners, Mitch Ammons and Kelsey Bruce, and women’s ultra marathon winner Megan Smyth were running at the event for the first time.
Bruce and Hale are best friends, meeting each other when they were both runners at Dallas Baptist from 2011-15.
They even ran the first few miles of Sunday’s race together before embarking on their own separate, winning journeys.
Bruce won the half marathon with a time of 1:14:35. She moved to Wichita Falls earlier this year after being hired as the head coach of Midwestern State’s cross country and track teams. Being able to come back to her hometown of 10 years and win the half marathon in front of her friends, family and coach was special.
“It’s always fun to hear your name on the course from people you love,” Bruce said.
So with her friend still on the road, Bruce stuck around after receiving her medal and award, joining the cheering brigade for Hale.
And as Hale entered the final length of his winning run, one voice stood out amid the crowd cheering him on.
“With 600 to go, she was there telling me that you got it,” Hale said. “She knows how I finish. She knows I can finish terribly. So when she said that I had it, I knew I had it.”
posted Monday December 13th
by Peter Warren