flying pig marathon

Sergio Reyes had never won a marathon before today. By the final miles of the Flying Pig Marathon this morning, he knew he was going to finally get that first victory, but he had no idea he was so close to a course record.

Reyes won in an unofficial time 2:20:40, 15 seconds slower than Cecil Franke’s course record of 2:20:25, which he set in 2006.

“Oh my gosh,” Reyes said after being informed of the proximity to the record. “I had no idea what the record was. Oh no, if someone had clued me into that I might have picked it up in the final miles.”

The 27-year-old from Palmdale, Calif. was running well ahead of the rest of the field, practically by himself over the last half of the race. After finishing 17th place in the Boston Marathon two weeks ago, Reyes wanted to be sure that he didn’t push himself too hard toward the end of the Flying Pig race, remembering how difficult it had been for him to finish fast in previous marathons, notably the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials.

“The wheels came off in that race in the last two miles,” Reyes said. “It started getting dark all around me, and I just told myself to try to finish alive.”

Sunday, Reyes was a little nervous something similar might happen at the end of the race if he ran too fast. So he slowed it down, just enough to unknowingly miss a record.
“It’s kind of like when you’re driving a car and the gas light comes on for a long time,” Reyes said. “You get nervous just like that