Alex King ran with light feet but a heavy heart.
King from Hoschton wore two race numbers in the ING Georgia Half Marathon: his on his front and his former running partner George Baker's on the back.
King, 38, was on a training run with Baker on Valentine's Day when his friend collapsed. King used CPR but was unable to revive Baker, 49, a married father of three.
Ten years ago, they met through local 5K races and became friends and running mates. When Baker died, the two were training to qualify for the Boston Marathon.
"It's like he's still running with me," King said, referring to Baker's number.
On Sunday, King wanted to honor Baker, Baker's wife Ingrid and their three daughters with a personal record. With thoughts of his friend running through his head, King fell two minutes short. At the finish line, where Baker's family waited for him, King presented Ingrid with her husband's finisher's medal.
"He was the type of guy that if he told you he would be there (to train), he would be there," King said. "I probably won't find anybody else like that. He was just a real great guy."
Running in the spotlight
Two runners featured in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution prior to the race finished well. Half-marathoner Leanne Lee, who received a liver transplant 3 ½ years ago, ran a personal best by 12 minutes with her friend Amy Caldwell, at 2:29:14. Lee, 33, of Duluth, later went home and registered for the AJC Peachtree Road Race.
Dalton marathoner and former professional cyclist Saul Raisin, who nearly lost his life to a traumatic brain injury in a French bicycle race in 2006, had a great race experience, running to support his Raisin Hope Foundation. Raisin, 27, finished in 4:24:16. Fans recognized him and cheered for him and the foundation.
"If that doesn't boost you, nothing will," he said.
Georgia's fastest
The two fastest marathoners from Georgia were Valentin Alvarez of Marietta and Kyla Barbour, who finished sixth and second overall among men and women, respectively. Barbour is a former Marist track and cross country standout. She finished in 2:57:58; Alvarez's time was 2:42:12.
Alvarez, a 41-year-old dental technician, wanted to beat his 2009 time of 2:36.
"It was pretty hard for me," he said. "I hit the wall pretty good somewhere around 18, 19 miles."
New sponsor coming
Race organizers have a lot of orange to discard. Sunday's race was the last Georgia Marathon that ING will sponsor. Peter Handy of U.S. Road Sports & Entertainment Group, which owns and operates the race, said two or three companies are interested in replacing ING as title sponsor.
"Whoever the new guy is, I'm going to love them as much as I loved ING," Handy said.
Rain was deterrent
While 16,000 runners registered for the two races, 12,600 finished. The threat of heavy rain, which fell lightly, kept some runners away, race official Nick Schubert surmised.
Marathon finisher Suman Silwal from Birmingham completed his goal of running six marathons in six months. Starting in September, Silwal, 40, ran marathons in Toronto, New York, Huntsville, Mobile, Birmingham and Atlanta.
Said Silwal, "I just wanted to see if I could do it."
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