LITTLE ROCK — REBECCA MULLEN, 29
Little Rock, 2:58.16 (half-marathon)
Mullen was diagnosed with a noncancerous brain tumor in October 2003 that affected her vision and her endocrine system. Brain surgery came a month later during which some of the tumor was removed.
Sunday she finished her seventh half-marathon.
“After the surgery and 15 rounds of radiation therapy, it took about another year before I got to where I was running,” said Mullen, who is originally from Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
She tried to run the Disney World Half Marathon with her father two months after the surgery, but double vision allowed her to walk only about 3 miles before she dropped out of the race. They finished the Disney half-marathon the following January.
“I have some endocrine issues now that I have to take medicine for now,” Mullen said. “But as long as I take my medicine, I’m good.”
GRANT BERTHIAUME, 51
Tucson, Ariz., 2:16.26 (wheelchair)
Berthiaume, the winner of the wheelchair division, had a busy weekend. He is part of a three wheelchair group doing 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 weeks.
“[Saturday)] we did Albany, Ga., and today was Little Rock,” Berthiaume said. “This is our ninth state of the year, and we’re on our goal to do 50 marathons. This course was great. I really thought it was awesome.”
JAMES BRESETTE, 52 Clinton, 2:56.59
Bresette, who finished second in the men’s 50-54 division, has been a busy marathoner. He has run back to-back marathons in under 3 hours after finishing the Birmingham (Ala.) Marathon on Feb. 17 in 2:54.12. He has been faster in the past, particularly in Little Rock.
“I’m happy with sub-3 right now,” Bresette said. “Last year I was faster. I ran it in2:45, something around there. I’m great with under 3, though.”
KEVIN MCCULLOUGH, 34
El Dorado Springs, Mo., 3:00.58
McCullough was shooting to finish in less than 3 hours. He missed his mark by less than a minute.
“I was on pace at the half,” said McCullough, a veteran of several marathons. “It came down to that last hill. Mile 25 was a killer. There was nothing easy about that last mile. I was close. Just a minute away.”
KRYSTAL ROYSTER, 34
Little Rock, 5:58.22
Racers needing more than six hours to finish the marathon started two hours earlier than the rest. Royster got the head start, but she didn’t need it to crack six hours in her first marathon. She had 1 minute, 38 seconds to spare.
“I expected it to be hard,” said Royster, who showed plenty of enthusiasm at the finish. “It was OK until that 20th mile. At that 20th mile, I almost went down, but I made it through. I’m ready to do more. I’ll be back next year.”
MICHELLE GREER, 38 Conway, 3:45.33
Greer finished her second marathon by shaving almost 20 minutes off the 4:02 she ran in her first marathon. “I was very pleased to break 4 hours,” Greer said. “That was my goal, just under 4. It was a tough course. There were a lot more hills than my first one.
CHUCK ENGLE, 42
Coos Bay, Ore., 2:40:58
Engle decided to take a break from running last weekend. Not a bad idea, considering he ran two marathons the previous weekend, the second being his 300th race of26.2 miles since 2000.
Engle, who has run Little Rock four times, was back at it Sunday, finishing 10th among the men, and he said he’ll run another marathon next week. He’s just sure where yet.
“I just wish my legs would have held together a little bit longer,” Engle said. “I love [the pain]. I think if you’re a marathon runner, you’ve got to love the pain.”
BRIAN MAZUR, 44 Jackson, Mich., 2:59:59
Mazur had run 14 marathons before arriving in Little Rock for Sunday’s race, but he had never finished in under three hours.
So when he turned the final corner and saw he had about 15 seconds to break the milestone, he took off in a dead sprint and crossed the finish line with a second to spare.
“I’m feeling great. I really trained great for this,” Mazur said. “It wasn’t as challenging as the elevation chart showed. When I got out there, it kind of felt good because it wasn’t as bad as I expected. This is just great for me. I’ve been trying to break 3 [hours] for a long time.”
NATHAN SICHER, 31
Joplin, Mo., 3:00:29
Sicher crossed the finish line Sunday about 10 minutes slower than he did a year ago. He might have equaled his time had he not stumbled within the first half-mile and had to run with sizable scrapes covering both of his knees.
But Sicher ran a 100-mile ultra marathon in October, so Sunday’s run wasn’t so bad.
“I can do 26[miles] in a little bit of pain,” he said. “It kind of took your mind off the other stuff, you know.”
Sports, Pages 16 on 03/04/2013