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A half-marathon, about 13.1 miles, isn't a commonly run distance - 5K races are by far more common - so when a half-marathon race is offered, runners turn out.
Dozens of host of runners from North Carolina were among the more than 16,000 entrants in the eight annual Rock 'n' Roll Half-Marathon at Virginia Beach, Va., on Sunday.
Two runners from North Carolina won their age divisions.
Gary Moss, 58, of Raleigh finished 98th overall and first in the men's 55-59 age division in 1 hour, 27 minutes, 27 seconds.
Dustin Hicks, 23, of Boone was 31st overall and won the men's 18-24 division in 1:15:27. Just behind Hicks in 32nd overall was Nicholas Defelice, 24, of Chapel Hill in 1:16:04.
The top female finisher from North Carolina was Randy Stockbridge, 25, of Chapel Hill, who was 73rd overall, 15th among women and second in the women's 25-29 age division.
The men's and women's professional titles went to runners from Kenya, according to an event news release.
In the men's race, James Kwambai, who also won the race in 2006, finished in 1:02:11, well ahead of Ethiopia's Tadesse Tola, who finshed in 1:02:33.
In the women's race, Edith Masai of Kenya came from behind to win the women's division in 1:12:54, beating American Katie McGregor, who ran 1:13.04.
Chad Johnson, of Charlestown, Ind., won the men’s wheelchair race in 50:01, and Kelsie Kell of Fredericksburg, Va., won the women’s chair race in 1:19:51.
The race started with 16,445 runners and walkers on an oceanfront course that featured more than 20 live bands and cheerleaders at each mile.
And 6,000 miles and seven zones away, more than 800 soldiers at Joint Base Balad in Iraq conducted their own Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in collaboration with race in Virginia Beach, an area with a strong military history and presence.