OUC Orlando Half Marathon draws crowds of spectators
Half marathoners packed tightly together on Robinson Street, awaiting the sound of the air horn that would tell them it’s time to move.
When they heard it, the nearly 3,000 runners bounded through the starting line.
Tammy Rievas, of Davie, nabbed a spot near the finish line about 6:30 a.m. to watch the race with her English bulldog, Tally. During the event, she kept tabs on her daughter, son-inlaw and husband— who were competing in the half marathon — through the race website, which tracked the runners as they moved along the course.
Before the race, Rievas said she sent her family off with a “have fun” and told her husband to “come back in one piece.” The 61-year-old got back into running in July, she said.
The runners took off south past State Road 408 to the Lake Terrace area, then back north along Primrose Drive, looping toward Lake Eola. All the while, more than 4,000 spectators were cheering them on, race officials estimated before the event.
Rob Bauer waited near the starting line on his bicycle before the runners set off. About fifteen of his friends and family members signed up to run, and he planned to meet them a different spots along the way where he’ll hold a sign that says “You are proof that hard work pays off!”
A runner himself, Bauer said he knows a familiar face and motivational words can be the support a runner needs to push through a difficult part of the race.
“It really makes you fell good when it’s getting tough,” Bauer said.
“There’s just a lot of people in our group of friends who have made a lot of progress throughout the year and really since they started their running career.”
The race draws runners from all over the world. This year, they represented 12 countries, including Brazil, Japan, Colombia and more.
As 5K finishers snacked on fruit, muffins and bagels with medals hanging from their necks, the half marathoners began trickling back to Lake Eola after just more than an hour of running.
Dominic Korir darted through the finish line first, nearly passing the Colonial High School mascot — in full Grenadier costume — who finished the 5K loop shortly beforehand.
Lake Eola’s green space along Eola Drive was taken over by vendors and a live band to greet finishers in celebration.
Korir and women’s first place finisher Loni Smith both finished faster than the winners last year, clocking in at 1 hour, 4 minutes, 48 seconds and 1 hour, 21 minutes, 39 seconds, respectively.
No matter what their time, though, runners were welcomed to the home stretch of the race by a host of spectators leaned over metal railings along the street, some ringing bells and others chanting in support as racers crossed the finish line.