Tens Of Thousands Of Runners, Spectators Enjoy Philadelphia Marathon
By Pat Loeb
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - An international duo topped the field at the Philadelphia marathon Sunday. Abebe Mickuriya took the men's gold with a two-hours 17-minute marathon and Irvina Alexandrova led the women with a two-hour 39-minute finish.
For The Complete List Of Winners, Race Times -- CLICK HERE.
But, the Philadelphia Marathon is one race that is not about winning.
With 30,000 runners on the course, it's clear most aren't going out for a place on the podium. Each runner's motivation is a lot more personal:
"Sense of accomplishment."
"Its' in the family."
"It's a lot of health benefits."
"We're running for Cindy, a freind of ours who's battling cancer."
Mark Sullivan has run all 20 years of the current marathon course. This, he says, was a good one:
"Just look at this day, I mean, perfect temperature, no wind...we can't ask for more than that. Rain held off, just perfect all the way around."
And the marathon loved the runners back. Mayor Nutter, who high-fived runners as they took off and finished, says it's one of the events that makes Philadelphia a destination:
"We welcome folks. We have every state represented, 40-some countries. Folks love this race, they love our course and they love the love they get right here in Philadelphia."
Each runner took home a finishers medal, but, for most, it's what they leave on the course that counts.
