Heart
of America Marathon
Labor Day 
Columbia, Missouri
The big story was the heat and humidity - 75 degrees and 80% humidity at the 6:00 a.m. start. When the sun got high it was obvious that times would be much slower than usual. Only four of the seventeen runners who were here last year could improve their 1969 times. Don Granberg improved by some fifteen minutes. Greg Carlberg and Tim Hendricks staged quite a battle until last year's winner faded badly over the final two miles. Notice how Henry Shawnee stormed the final two miles to make up seven minutes on Hendricks and move from fifth to second. Another big story was that of the Phelps family - ten kids, ages seven to seventeen, plus the old man. They all finished; none of them even considered dropping out. Families have run in marathons before, but never a performance like this.
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