An insurance agent in Meridian, ID has taken first place at a prestigious marathon event – becoming the first woman to come in first overall since the marathon’s establishment.
Rachael Arends, who also goes by Rachael Powell on her race records, placed first overall at the third annual “Onward Shay! Boise Marathon” earlier this week, with a time of three hours, 13 minutes and 54 seconds.
Since the marathon’s inception, Arends is the first woman to place first overall, beating everyone to the finish line – male runners included.
Bart Yasso, a writer with Runner’s World magazine and a professional runner himself, was thrilled with Arends’ performance.
“It’s pretty unusual for a woman to break the tape at a marathon,” Yasso told Idaho Statesman.
Yasso – who has participated in races all around the world – was so impressed with Arends that he waited with her at the finish line for her twin sister, who also ran the marathon.
Others have also noted Arends’ unprecedented marathon win.
“I can’t remember anything happening like this in a race,” said New York City Marathon chairman George Hirsch. “There were even lots of good runners from out of town running the race. It’s just unheard of for a female runner to beat every other male runner.”
Hirsch is the husband of the late Shay Hirch; the “Onward Shay! Boise Marathon” is named in her honor.
While she made history with her extraordinary marathon victory, Arends has been humble about her feat.
“There are some really fast runners around here,” she said. “But it’s the luck of the draw — marathons are funny like that. It’s like a big puzzle, and you have to have all the pieces fall into place to have a great race.”
