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Participants brave the cold to compete in the 2022 Chevron Houston Marathon

Sunday morning’s race saw a couple of record-breaking performances.

HOUSTON — Over 28,000 runners took the streets Sunday for the 2022 Chevron Houston Marathon. The marathon, held virtually last year, was back in-person for its 50th anniversary.

Runners KHOU 11 News spoke with had different reasons for signing up for the 26.2-mile trek.

"I ran the full marathon in 2020 and I was gearing for next one,” Ravi Duber, of Houston, said.

RELATED: Chevron Houston Marathon weekend expected to make multimillion dollar impact in the city

"I am actually fundraising March of Dimes for my run today,” Sophia Schmidt, of Lake Jackson, said.

“I'm turning 70 in a couple weeks I just wanted to prove to myself I could still do it,” Linda Kell, of Missouri City, said.

Schmidt running her sixth ever marathon says the 50th anniversary made the marathon special, “I'm actually more excited it's the 50th anniversary, that's really why I signed up for a full."

RELATED: Meet Houston Marathon runner Frank Lara as he prepares for his first marathon!

This year a new addition, and a marathon first, as the land bridge in Memorial Park was added to course.

Credit: KHOU
This year a new addition, and a marathon first, as the land bridge in Memorial Park was added to course.

The race started with "feels like" temperatures in the 20s. Duber says he didn’t mind, “So far it is cold and that is good for runners.”

The cold temperatures added to a good cause as runners ditched the layers. Piles of jackets, coats, and sweaters were donated to the marathon’s annual fundraiser to help the homeless.

Schmidt says the best feeling is crossing that finish line.

"Oh it's amazing, you hurt really bad right before you're like I’m never doing this again, then you have this euphoria, you have runners’ high like they say,” she said.

Sunday morning’s race saw a couple of record-breaking performances.

Keira D’Amato, of USA, broke Deena Kastor’s American marathon record of 2:19:36 set in 2006 with a time of 2:19:12. James Ngandu, of Kenya, was the first-place men’s marathon finisher with a time of 2:11:03.

Sara Hall, of USA, set a new American half marathon record with a time of 1:07:15.

Vicoty Chepngeno, of Kenya, set a new course record with a time of 1:05:03. Milkesa Tolosa, of Ethiopia, was the first-place men’s half marathon finisher with a time of 1:00:24.

Congratulations, to all of this year’s participants!

Brittany Ford on social media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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