By David Rogers. WILMINGTON, N.C. — A minute and 46 seconds may not sound like a lot time but when it is the difference between the winner and runner up in a half marathon, it may seem like an eternity while waiting for that second place finisher to cross the the line.
Blowing Rock’s Annmarie Tuxbury won the Run Wilmington Half Marathon on Feb. 25, crossing the finish line in one hour, 14 minutes and 42 seconds (1:14:42.1), well ahead of second place runner Katie Baska of Knoxville, Tenn. (1:16:28.5) and third place finisher Laura Zenger (1:18:52.2) of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Tuxbury finished No. 13 overall among the almost 2,000 athletes competing in the half marathon. Wrightsville Beach-based Robinson Snider was first overall with a time of 1:06:33.0.
Tuxbury, a member of the ZAP Endurance elite professional running team based in Blowing Rock, picked up her pace in the second half of Saturday’s race. At the halfway point (6.5 miles), her mile pace was 5:44, but for the full race her mile pace was 5:42.
Tuxbury’s win is just the latest of top performances by ZAP runners, including Andrew Colley, Tyler Pennel, Ryan Ford, Tristin Van Ord, and Dan Schaffer.
