Desiree Ficker wins Austin Marathon
Home town heroine Desiree Ficker won the Livestrong Austin Marathon Sunday by an 11-minute 18-second margin of victory over runner-up Jessica Mike.
While Ficker’s time of 2:50:35 was 11 minutes off her marathon PR, the 2006 Ironman Hawaii runner-up had bigger issues on her mind.
"I was running for my mom," Ficker told Austin media. "She passed away with cancer a year and a half ago. She's like a little bird that sits on my shoulder when it gets tough."
Men’s winner Keith Pierce topped the field of more than 20,000 runners and finished in 2:29:25, 4 minutes and 55 seconds ahead of runner-up Phillip Sneller.
In the half marathon run on the same day, Fort Worth women’s winner Elizabeth Eder finished in 1:21:56, just in front of the most famous Texan in the field.
“I beat Lance Armstrong,” laughed Eder. “I shook his hand at the end.”
