Eli Cook contended with lack of rest from a previous day’s track meet, temperatures in the 30s and a dead-end to be the first to cross the finish line Saturday at the Lincoln Presidential Half Marathon.
Cook, 20, bested more than 1,500 runners and walkers to be first in the 13.1-mile race that started and ended at the Old State Capitol. His time was 1 hour 16 minutes 34 seconds.
It was the first half marathon race for Cook of Rochester, who is a sophomore on the cross country team at the University of Illinois Springfield.
“We ran a track meet (Friday) night. We ran a 5K in St. Louis at 6:40 p.m. I got back to my dorm at 1:30 (Saturday morning) and woke up, rolled out of bed and came here and ran,” Cook said.
The story was reported by The State Journal-Register on April 3, 2016.
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