This Badass 12-Year-Old Girl Accidentally Ran a Half-Marathon Instead of a 5K
When 12-year-old LeeAdianez Rodriguez showed up to the Rochester Regional Health Flower City Challenge last Sunday, she noticed that runners had already begun lining up at the starting line and assumed that she'd arrived late. But rather than the 5K she'd originally signed up for, the western New Yorker soon discovered she had accidentally joined a half marathon - adding an extra 10 miles to the 3.1 she'd trained for.
According to Democrat & Chronicle, about halfway through the race, LeeAdianez realized her mistake, but decided to keep going and finish. Of course, this gave her poor mother, Brendalee Espada, quite the scare when she was unable to find her daughter at the 5K race's finish line. However, the two were eventually reunited, and LeeAdianez was able to tell her mom what had happened.
"She just wanted to finish the race," Brendalee told Democrat & Chronicle. "It was such a scary moment, but rewarding for her in the end. I don't even know how she did it. I'm so proud of her."
LeeAdianez was among the youngest to compete in the half marathon and earned a medal for her awesome 2:43:31 time.
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