I haven’t had a chance to get a first hand report yet, but I just saw this from USA Today:
An ailing Josh Cox, struggling nearly the entire race, held on to break the American record for 50 kilometers Sunday at Arizona’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon.
Cox was timed in 2 hours, 47 minutes, 17 seconds, for the 31.05 miles, shattering the record of 2:51:48, set by Alex Tilson on Feb. 11, 2002. But Cox, who had his mind set on smashing the world record, fell short of the mark of 2:43:38, set by Thompson Mugwana of South Africa, on Feb. 4, 1988.
Perhaps if Cox had not thrown up about six times along the marathon course and stopped for two restroom breaks, he might have had a shot at Mugwana’s mark.
Still, his run was impressive. After traversing the streets of Phoenix, Tempe and Scottsdale and finishing the marathon on the Arizona State campus, he moved over to Sun Angel Stadium and completed his grueling task with nearly 19 laps around the track. His most stunning lap was his last, a 71-second lap.
“I felt good at about mile 14 … and then for the final two laps,” Cox, 33, of El Cajon, Calif., said. “I had a lot of stomach issues, I don’t know why. Maybe I overcompensated for going the longer distance. Maybe I took on too many fluids early in the race. I just kept throwing down fluids. But I didn’t have any after 20 (miles).”
Read the rest of the article here.
