Brazilian runner wins second straight Disney Marathon after fierce battle with perennial winner Adriano Bastos; Virginia Beach's Renee High easily takes women's title; field of more than 16,500 pushes weekend total to event record 56,000 runners
By: Bob Hitchcock, runDisney
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - (January 8, 2012) - Brazilian runner Fredison Costa did it again, holding off his heavily-favored countryman Adriano Bastos on Sunday to win his second straight Walt Disney World Marathon.
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - (January 8, 2012) - Brazilian runner Fredison Costa did it again, holding off his heavily-favored countryman Adriano Bastos on Sunday to win his second straight Walt Disney World Marathon.
At the 19th edition, Costa, 34, waged a fierce battle with the 7-time champion Bastos, 33, throughout the 26.2 mile race through Disney's four theme parks - Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios - before pulling away at the end. Costa (left, credit: Matt Stroshane)crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 19 minutes, 1 second - just 14 seconds ahead of Bastos (2:19:15), who had won six Disney Marathons in a row before Costa's back-to-back feat.
