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LOUISVILLE, KY. - On Saturday, April 26, 2025, my daughter, Savannah Brannan, posted perhaps her greatest running accomplishment - topping 3 hours for a 26.2-mile marathon, an incredible feat.
Savannah, 26, set this goal a while back and I hoped she would get it on Saturday and the good thing is she did, recording a time of 2 hours, 59 minutes and 46 seconds.
She accomplished the goal through grit and determination. The 26.2-mile course was mostly flat, but there was a point of 3-4 miles of hills which made it more difficult, she said.
When Savannah could see the finish line, she said she accelerated as fast as she could. Her last mile was 6:10, which I think at the end of a marathon is nearly impossible. She knew she had a chance and did it! It was so cool to hear the announcer recognize her and say that Savannah had broken the 3-hour mark, a huge plateau in female distance running.
Savannah is incredibly humble, but she was thrilled to have broken the three-hour mark.
Hannah Bast, a Louisville native who now lives in Indianapolis, won the 26.2-mile female marathon in 2:49.37.76. She looked so strong at the end of the race, too.
Savannah's friend MaKayla Cox, an Alton native, now in medical school in Lexington, Ky., also finished under 2 hours for the 13.1-mile half marathon. I was equally as proud of MaKayla for her accomplishment. The two girls have known each other since high school (MaKayla attended high school in Alton and Savannah attended Edwardsville High) and both also attended the University of Illinois-Springfield. Savannah was on the UIS track and cross country teams and MaKayla played college soccer at UIS.
"The first 8 miles of the half marathon were great, but the last three were a little cold, but it was overall a great experience," Cox said.
One of the prizes for being in the top three overall was a bourbon barrel head marked with the third-place finisher. The portion of the bourbon barrel is shown in one of the photos above. I learned quite a bit about the Louisville whiskey trade and I guess these are highly sought throughout the country. I carried it for about 15 minutes to our car; thankfully, they had a box to put it in for transportation.
In a few weeks both of my daughters will finish their education - Savannah defends her doctorate on June 4, 2025, in neuroscience at Southern Illinois University Medical School, so she is near the end. My other daughter, Sierra, finishes her master's degree from Missouri State University in May. I am equally proud of both of my girls. Sierra now works at a corporate office for a major clothing operation based in Los Angeles and Savannah is preparing for a neuroscience position based at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.
Now for the humorous part of Saturday: I had to get up at 2 a.m. Central time. I had a late track meet to cover on Friday night, when the alarm went off at 2. I was so concerned I would oversleep, and I ran 24 minutes Saturday at about 2:30 a.m. on a dark Glen Carbon trail, and then left around 3. I-64 to Louisville is so desolate in the early hours, but I made it and also got back home by about 5 p.m.
I felt both going there and on the way back that I almost needed glue to keep my eyes open, but I made it. It was a whirlwind, but such a great day, one I won't forget!
