RUNNING USA – Boyd, Marchant Win Marine Corps Historic Half B – y: Tami Faram, MCM – Event record 5,679 finishers celebrate in Fredericksburg, VA; TV host and comedian Drew Carey tops expected time in half-marathon debut

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – (May 15, 2011) – The Marine Corps Historic Half welcomed an event record 5,679 finishers including runners from all 50 states to the finish line in Fredericksburg on Sunday morning. Law student Lanni Marchant (27), from Lansing, MI, set a new course record among women completing the 13.1 mile event in 1 hour, 21 minutes, 27 seconds. Wyatt Boyd (26) of Washington, DC finished first overall with a 1:13:53 finish time.

"It was really hard and pretty humid but there is no other race like this out there," Boyd said just after breaking the finishing tape. "Running under the American flag with the firemen really gets you pumped up toward the finish."

Boyd also was the MCM10K first place finisher in 2009, running 32:54.

Comedian Drew Carey, who fired the starting pistol and then ran his first half-marathon, made a surprising finish of 1:57:02. "The Price Is Right" host expected to complete the run in just over two hours.

"Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would finish in two hours, it really felt good," said Carey. "Let's face it, with all of these Marines around, I didn't want to stop or drop out…I did not want to embarrass myself…that was a great motivator."

The Semper Fred 5K that immediately followed the Historic Half featured Olympic champion Billy Mills serving as starter. The 664 finishers were led by Jordan Zwick (24) of Arlington, VA, who finished first overall completing the 3.1 miles in 19:12. Not far behind was the top female finisher and Fredericksburg school teacher Molly Roohi (30) of King George, VA who ran 19:41.

The Historic Half also included its first relay competition with 112 relay teams participating. Relay teams consisted of two person teams splitting the 13.1 mile course.

For complete results, go to: www.marinemarathon.com

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