Runner Crawls to Finish the Austin Marathon

Cynthia Jerop, was the women's winner of the Austin Marathon last Saturday. Hannah Steffan came in second, but it's the third place finisher that everybody is talking about.

Kenyan runner Hyvon Ngetich was the women's leader for most of the race, but she ran into trouble at the end.  That big invisible wall that says you are done. With just two-tenths of a mile left to run, Ngetich began to wobble and stagger, and eventually fell down. She attempted to get back up but couldn't.  So she crawled to the end.

Austin Marathon race director John Conley was very impressed.  He told KEYE TV, "What we saw was a champion, the toughest person on the planet."

Conley said Ngetich crawled more than 400 meters (1,312 feet) to cross the finish line, leaving her knees and elbows bloodied and her hands stained from the pavement.

She was immediately rushed to a medical tent, where she was treated for dangerously low blood sugar.

The women's winner was Cynthia Jerop, who finished in 2:54:21.78. Ngetich finished some 10 minutes later, just three seconds behind second place, Austin runner Hannah Steffan.

After her crawl to the end,  the Austin Marathon adjusted Ngetich's prize money to equal that of the second-place finisher. Instead of $1000, she got $2000.

Ngetich says she will be back next year to WIN the Austin Marathon.

Our Army Marathon is coming up on March 1, you can still register.  Hopefully you will stay on your feet til the end.