Mary Alex Gary looked completely relaxed in the post-race food zone Sunday morning after winning the 46th Rocket City Marathon.
Gary wasn’t chugging water or recovery aids. She wasn’t gnawing on a gel pack or scarfing bananas, tangerines or Marco’s pepperoni pizza. Honestly, she looked pert and comfortable, like she’d just had a nice training run or a zippy 10K. Twenty-six miles (and don’t you forget the .2, buster) in chilly wind and misty drizzle? Pfffftt. No big deal.
Gary’s immediate desire after finishing was to call her three children in Knoxville to say good morning and hear their voices. When she did, they lit up her face with a huge smile and bright eyes. Gary’s winning time of 2:57:25 didn’t matter. She and her husband, Michael, relished the call and Facetime visit.
Gary has been running for more than 20 years, since middle school, for fun and as a healthy outlet. She ran in the 2017 Boston Marathon but that was her last big event, as having three children since then commanded her attention. Sunday’s win was a surprise, she said, despite her months of training. Men’s RCM champion Josh Whitehead expressed similar feelings.
Gary said everything just came together as she strived to hit her goal time of less than three hours.
“You know, I took about five years off. I had three kids. And so this was my first one back,” Gary said. “I wasn’t even planning on doing the marathon this year. I started training with a friend and she was like, you know, let’s try this. And so I was like, okay, I guess let’s just keep pushing the mileage. And it just worked.
“My goal was to beat three hours. And that was a goal that I was like, maybe I’ll do it, maybe I won’t. But then my husband caught me on the course a couple of times to encourage me.”
Purity Munene, 35, of Columbia, S.C., was second (18th overall) in 2:58:05. Heather Magill, 42, of Bowling Green, Ky., was third (23rd) in 2:58:54.
Gary said she never looked behind her on the course and didn’t know anything about her competitors. The marathoners ran with the half-marathoners, starting with them downtown and then picking up the Back Half Marathon runners at the midpoint. So for Gary and Whitehead, they just knew they were amid other runners until the final turns at the VBC.
“I just tried to keep my head in front, not turn around or anything and just keep going,” she said. “The last mile I felt good and decided to go (harder). The course was really awesome. There were so many policemen … I never got lost, and I’m known for getting lost. Oh, like take off down the wrong road. But yeah, it was great. It was not too hilly and not too flat. It was perfect. Awesome.”
Returning to Boston is on her mind, with a bit of redemption in store.
“The year I went, it was really rain and really cold and really icy. And I was like, this really isn’t that fun,” she said. “So I want to go back and have fun.”
See all the results of the 2022 Rocket City Marathon here, and the women’s results here.
PHOTO: Mary Alex Gary of Knoxville, Tenn., crosses the line to win the 2022 Rocket City Marathon women’s title. (Photo: Alan Clemons / TVO)
FOR MORE PHOTOS – Visit the TVO gallery and check out the marathon and miscellaneous images from Sunday’s action.
