Austin International Half Marathon sees thousands of runners despite below-freezing cold
AUSTIN, Texas - The Austin International Half Marathon, formerly known as the 3M Half Marathon, brought in thousands of runners on Sunday morning, despite below freezing temperatures.
By the numbers:
Six thousand runners from 47 states and 14 countries competed on Sunday.
"It's amazing because we know that we get to be able to bring everyone together from around the United States but around the world. And running brings the community together," said event organizer Megan Frausto.
Starting in north Austin, the 13-mile course features a 300-foot drop in elevation, ending at the Texas State Capitol. The end of the run featured a celebration with food trucks, music and a medal to commemorate the achievement.
The temperature at the start of the 7:30 a.m. race was a chilly 26 degrees,
What they're saying:
"My wife and I are avid runners, but we prefer to run when it's much warmer than this. Obviously, we train for marathons and halves are kind of our training regimen and this is our first Austin International, so we're really looking forward to it," said participant Tom Sloan.
The below freezing start was a first for many runners like Sloan.
"There's just like a lot of little nuances associated with running in this kind of cold because you put so many layers on, and you're just not used to doing that," said Sloan.
Sloan admits he was nervous about the freezing temperatures but didn’t let that stop him.
"When I signed up for this, I did not expect the temperature to be below freezing. So, when I woke up this morning, I had second thoughts. Well, I had many thoughts and one of them was, should I stay in bed? I think I should. But nonetheless, here I am," he said.
The backstory:
Frausto says preparation for the event happens all year round.
"Our team is just ready to lock down no matter what happens with the weather. We just watch everything and make sure it's safe. You know, we had no precipitation, so we're totally cool and our structures are always down and ready to handle wind. So, it's really no big deal. We're just, we stay ready all year for anything that could come at us on race day," said Frausto.
Why you should care:
The event also gives back to the community. Runners who bundled up at the start of the race had the option to drop their layers into bins which will be donated to Goodwill.
What's next:
Organizers say registration for next year’s event is already live.
The Source: Information comes from reporting by FOX 7 Austin's Jenna King