Aspiring Olympian shows spirit in sweeping races
A 33-year-old aspiring Olympian from Denver set a Walt Disney World marathon weekend record, sweeping all four races in consecutive days.
Brittany Charboneau
completed the 26.2-mile marathon on Sunday in 2 hours and 45 minutes. She also won the 5K, 10K and half marathon to complete the “Dopey Challenge,” which is a combined 48.6 miles. For each race, she dressed as a favorite Disney character.
“I feel amazing,” Charboneau, who suffered an injury while training for the Boston Marathon, told the Orlando Sentinel. “This was such a mental-win weekend for me. My goal was never to win all of these. My goal was to go out, wear costumes and have an amazing time.”
Charboneau dressed as Elsa from “Frozen” for the 5K on Thursday, Bing Bong from “Inside Out” for the 10K on Friday, Joy from “Inside Out” for the half marathon on Saturday and Cruella de Vil (pictured) from the “101 Dalmatians” for Sunday’s marathon.
Charboneau told the newspaper that she also tested positive for COVID-19 around Christmas, even though she is fully vaccinated and boosted.
It’s the first time a runner has topped all four races in the Disney event’s 29-year history, the Sentinel reported. The marathon weekend races feature courses that wind through Disney’s four theme parks in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Charboneau, who is training for the 2024 Olympic trials, dubs herself “the funny runner.”
“The reason I wanted to do this is to remind people you can have big goals, but you can have fun with it,” she said.
Trivia question Where did the Chargers’ Justin Herbert finish in QBR this season?
She’s got game
Genevieve Beacom made history as the first female pitcher for an Australian professional baseball team.
The 17-year-old Beacom appeared in the three-game Melbourne Challenge Series, which was organized after the 2021-22 Australian Baseball League was canceled because of COVID-19.
Beacom signed for the Melbourne Aces earlier this month as a development player. She appeared in Saturday’s game against the Adelaide Giants and allowed no runs and no hits in her one-inning appearance in a game which the Aces trailed and lost 7-1.
“When I got out there I just wanted to shut down the runs. They had some momentum so the goal was just to stop the run-scoring,” the left-handed Beacom said.
Beacom’s historic evening continued a ground-breaking career which includes being the first woman to pitch in a Victorian (state) Summer League division one game and representing Victoria and Australia at youth levels.
Not bad, eh?
Jaime Vieira will become the first woman in a coaching role in the Blue Jays organization, after the club hired her Monday to be a minor league hitting coach ahead of the 2022 season.
The Blue Jays have not decided on coaching assignments at the minor league level for the upcoming campaign, so it is not yet clear which affiliate(s) Vieira might be assisting. But she has built a deep familiarity with Toronto, having occupied various roles around the organization since 2019.
Trivia answer
Third at 66.1, behind the Packers’ Aaron Rodgers (68.8) and the Bucs’ Tom Brady (68.5) and ahead of the Rams’ Matthew Stafford (63.5).