by Lance Phegley

Freescale Austin Marathon Photo Gallery

Despite morning temps hovering near freezing that delayed the start of the race by half an hour, a record crowd of some 12,000 runners set a bevy of PRs at Sunday's Freescale Austin Marathon.

The first runner to set a PR was Mindi Pukstas, who outsprinted Abebe Yimer to the finish by nine seconds to claim the overall men's title. Pukstas, who came into the race with a goal of setting a PR and winning the race, accomplished both in two hours, 13 minutes, and 43 seconds. American Jim Jurcevich finished a strong fourth in 2:14:28.

Fifty-one-year-old Tatyana Podznyakova, "Grandma Marathon", set a pending age group world record with her 2:34:22 overall female victory. Both Pukstas and Podznyakova took home a cool ten grand for their overall victories.

The new course, made even faster this year by the removal of several tough stretches particularly within the final few miles, rewarded a slew of runners who participated in the Olympic Development Program. Twenty-five American runners had their tickets punched to the 2008 Olympic Trials Marathon by virtue of their fast finishes at the Freescale Marathon.