US teenager runs full marathon by accident

RUNNERS train for weeks before taking on the ultimate challenge of a marathon. Which makes this teen’s accidental achievement all the more remarkable.

RUNNERS train for weeks before taking on a marathon but what if you just ran one by accident?

That’s exactly what happened to a US teenager who signed up for a half marathon but missed the turn-off and ended up completing his first marathon instead.

Evan Megoulas of Pennsylvania is on his school’s cross country team and had recently finished his first half marathon in 1:38:06.

On Sunday he set up to complete the GORE-TEX Philadelphia Half Marathon with his brother Peter and family supporting him.

When he didn’t appear at the finish line, they became worried and alerted police.

In a Facebook post, Peter said his brother Evan only had about five miles (eight kilometres) left to go when police finally caught up with him.

“Officer (Janie) DiPasquale said: ‘there was no way I was stopping him at that point after he had accomplished so much’,” Peter explained.

Two officers on bikes even provided Evan with an escort to make sure he finished. The teen crossed the line of his first marathon in 5:23:11.

“I really can’t explain how the kid does it. He is a natural runner. He was so in the zone. He didn’t know the area, I think he would have caught it if it was local, but he isn’t familiar with Philadelphia, and didn’t know where he was. But he finished in a reasonable time, and he’s really happy with that,” Peter told PennLive.

Peter said Evan had a learning disability, which meant he got things confused quite easily.

“I couldn’t be more proud of my brother for his accomplishment and I couldn’t be more proud of these fine officers for helping us out today!”

Evan Megoulas.