How Charlotte-area runners fared at OBX

Most runners don't have what it takes to run one sub-2:42 marathon in a lifetime. Charlotte's Bill Shires has now run TWO in the past six weeks.

Shires, 45, one of the top Masters runners in the area, followed up a 2:40:02 at the Twin Cities Marathon on Oct. 3 with a 2:41:35 at the OBX Marathon on Sunday. He finished seventh overall out of 1,661 finishers, and was the fastest 40-or-older racer by almost six minutes.

"I was expecting some really tough competition from Ulf Andre and Tommy Neeson. Both are very good Masters runners," said Shires (shown at left in a file photo -- i.e. not at OBX). "Ulf and I ran pretty much stride for stride until about 15 miles, where I got away from him at a water stop. For the next 11 miles, I was trying to keep the wheels from coming off the car." Andre, 43, of Hillsboro, finished in 2:47:25 and Neeson, 41, of Virginia Beach, ran a 2:48:58.

In between Twin Cities and OBX, Shires also ran a 10-mile race and a 5-mile race; with Sunday's finish, he was crowned the top Masters runner in the state by USA Track & Field for 2010 (third overall for the year) as well as 2010 Masters champion for the N.C. chapter of the Road Runners Club of America.

Here are results for the 77 other Charlotte-area runners who completed 26.2 in the Outer Banks last weekend:

Kody Kubbs, 25, Charlotte, 3:11:39
Chris McFarlane, 27, Charlotte, 3:14:14
Andrew Dolan, 23, Cornelius, 3:20:35
Brandon Hillis, 30, Cornelius, 3:22:54
Mike Adams, 46, Wingate, 3:25:46
Mike Dlugos, 27, Charlotte, 3:30:58
Richard Belcourt, 52, Waxhaw, 3:34:50
Eric Anderson, 29, Charlotte, 3:38:58
Steven Franco, 37, Denver, 3:40:12
Fred Bryan, 43, Salisbury, 3:42:26
Gerald Hutchinson, 50, Charlotte, 3:43:23
Steve Eaton, 38, Hickory, 3:44:06
Elijah Lackey, 22, Hickory, 3:47:31
Elizabeth Maner, 46, Charlotte, 3:48:24
Joe Haines, 39, Hickory, 3:48:28
Brett Morris, 29, Cornelius, 3:50:01
Jason Balara, 35, Charlotte, 3:50:43
Vincent Pastore, 55, Mooresville, 3:51:25
Brian Smith, 39, Concord, 3:51:30
Matthew Andrews, 29, Charlotte, 3:53:18
Chad Baril, 32, Charlotte, 3:54:36
Chris Lariscy, 45, Hickory, 3:58:30
Kate Watts, 29, Charlotte, 3:58:31
Jaclyn Shell, 30, Charlotte, 3:58:35
Trish Kawa, 32, Charlotte, 3:59:03
Victoria Shannon, 37, Charlotte, 3:59:56
Marie Duty, 35, Charlotte, 3:59:56
Nick Brazee, 27, Kannapolis, 4:01:24
Matthew Tansky, 32, Huntersville, 4:01:45
Michelle Vanvliet, 19, Troutman, 4:01:45
Clark Loftin, 28, Denver, 4:02:36
Michael Furr, 38, Albemarle, 4:03:17
Earl Waddell Jr., 40, Huntersville, 4:03:17
Becky Philo, 39, Charlotte, 4:04:00
Tony Philo, 41, Charlotte, 4:04:01
Randy Peterson, 36, Charlotte, 4:05:16
Jade Laughlin, 27, Charlotte, 4:08:19
Mandy Franco, 35, Denver, 4:09:54
Jason Stonestreet, 28, Albemarle, 4:14:42
Trisha Proper, 39, Salisbury, 4:22:00
Kelly Bankston, 38, Charlotte, 4:24:26
Leah Grace, 33, Charlotte, 4:24:27
Steve Grace, 35, Charlotte, 4:24:28
Kai Linn, 32, Charlotte, 4:24:40
Amy McClelion, 36, Salisbury, 4:25:37
Marty Coulter, 37, Hickory, 4:28:54
John Teague, 50, Charlotte, 4:34:31
Ashley Widis, 36, Charlotte, 4:37:14
Marie Phillips, 28, Charlotte, 4:38:31
Tony Swegle, 28, Charlotte, 4:38:31
Brook Kempisty, 26, Indian Trail, 4:40:51
Michael Schulman, 24, Charlotte, 4:41:31
Tom Schumacher, 70, Matthews, 4:42:09
Jay Eckman, 35, Albemarle, 4:43:23
Eric Rysdon, 39, Charlotte, 4:43:39
Laura Rysdon, 38, Charlotte, 4:43:40
Chad Evans, 34, Albemarle, 4:44:32
Michelle Osbourne, 28, Albemarle, 4:45:47
Robert Stonestreet, 60, Albemarle, 4:46:34
Dirk Wuensche, 42, Tega Cay, 4:46:41
Cate Sheehy, 29, Charlotte, 4:53:06
Josh Houser, 23, Hickory, 4:53:35
Charlotte Walsh, 21, Hickory, 4:53:35
Ty Hitt, 39, Charlotte, 4:55:46
Randall Bullard, 34, Charlotte, 4:56:20
Stephanie Yewcic, 46, Huntersville, 4:59:46
Michael Utsman, 38, Charlotte, 5:04:23
Betsy Furr, 37, Albemarle, 5:12:26
Gregory Gilchrist, 49, Monroe, 5:23:52
Blake Lowder, 24, Charlotte, 5:32:37
Jeffrey Benfield, 52, Troutman, 5:32:47
Dawn Lazarony, 41, Charlotte, 5:33:35
Heather Gerheart, 29, Charlotte, 5:50:05
Sabrina Piercy, 34, Charlotte, 5:57:36
Steven Helmandollar, 37, Albemarle, 6:11:41
Julie Farragher, 36, Charlotte, 6:27:57
Julie Chaffin, 39, Indian Trail, 7:16:24