National Marathon Results: Fourth win for Michael Wardian

Thousands of runners took to the streets of Washington D.C. yesterday, to take part in the 2010 National Marathon. 2,322 people in total ran the full 26.2 miles of the actual marathon, while 6,249 people managed to finish the half marathon according to washingtonpost.com.

And it just happened to be 35-year old Arlington resident Michael Wardian who won the race on Saturday, breaking the tape with a total time of 2 hours, 21 minutes and 58 seconds. This is the fourth time he has won the National Marathon now, also winning in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Wardian managed to take control of the fifth running of the marathon right from the very beginning, by trying to run at a 5:16-mile pace in the hopes of clocking a sub-2:19 finish so that he could qualify for the Olympic trials. Unfortunately, he fell slightly short of that goal.

However, he did manage to reclaim his title from last year’s winner Patrick Moulton. “Now I’m just mad I didn’t win last year,” Wardian said. 28-year old Moulton returned to Washington to defend his title, but struggled with stomach cramp at the start of the 14th mile.

Moulton doesn’t expect to run another marathon now, until later this year. But it’s a completely different story for Wardian, who has already run five marathons so far this year. This includes one just last weekend, in which he ran with a 15-pound pack on his back.

You can read more of this story at the link above.