DAYTONA BEACH — The couple that race together stay together — at least that's how it has worked for Kingsley and Linda Haas over the last 16 years.
The Clarence, New York residents have an uncanny knack of crossing the line within seconds of one another. On this day, it appeared Linda, 58, would have the upper hand. Yet, Kingsley, 58, managed to edge out his wife by 11 seconds for household bragging rights.
"I thought, for sure, she was going to beat me today," Kingsley said. "Halfway, I wasn't feeling that great, and she passed me."
Linda replied, "He always catches me and passes me, right near the end. … He doesn't like when I beat him."
Motivated by head-to-head competition, to beat the clock or just to enjoy a cool, cloudy morning, runners showed up in droves to tackle the annual Daytona Beach Half Marathon on Sunday morning.
According to Don Piercy, the vice president of race management for Running Zone, Inc., 1,239 people registered for the Half Marathon and 1,379 signed up for the 3.1-mile (5K) Lap the Track. Piercy added that 458 brave souls chose to run both races.
St. Cloud's Tommy Ramirez, 46, captured the men's overall title with a time of 1 hour, 19 minutes and 41 seconds. Former Stetson cross country coach Joe Matuszczak, 35, crossed the line second in 1:22.35.
A second-time competitor and longtime NASCAR fan, Ramirez was thrilled when he realized he was the first person to head into the home stretch.
"I was surprised to get out front in the first quarter-mile," said Ramirez, who used to run in subzero temperatures when he lived in Minnesota. "I knew by the time I got to the race track that I had a good-sized lead. I kept looking at my watch and pulling away. That bridge (over) the Intracoastal (Waterway), that's probably where I am strongest."
Oviedo's Krista Roehlig, 24, earned the women's overall title with the day's third-fastest time (1:26.02). A former cross-country standout at Ohio University, Roehlig says her first trip to the World Center of Racing certainly won't be her last.
"It's an awesome race; very difficult course, I'm going to give it that," Roehlig said of the 13.1-mile circuit which starts and ends on pit road, with a jaunt over the Halifax River all the way past A1A along the way. "It was really fun. I like how it starts with the cars just zooming by."
Locals accounted for the majority of the field, including newcomers to the Volusia/Flagler area such as 69-year-old Ray Dube. The retired software salesman moved from Irvine, California, to DeLand a year and a half ago. He was "ecstatic" to crack the 2-hour mark.
"This was absolutely incredible. I ran the Boston Marathon four years ago, and this is right up there," Dube said. "It was on my bucket list."
However, the entry list was as expansive as ever.
In the Half Marathon alone, runners represented 34 states, four Canadian provinces and six other nations (Mexico, Brazil, Netherlands, Belgium, United Kingdom and Australia), per the official results sheet.
Chris Foster, 55, of Chatham, Ontario, arrived in Daytona as part of his three-week vacation. He's taken part in 33 half-marathons across 13 states, yet Daytona sticks out as one of the more memorable races of his life.
"I'm not a race fan at all, but when I came down here yesterday and when I felt the power of (the cars) and looked at the track, I was just uber-impressed," Foster said. "If I had enough time, I would have ridden in the pace car in a minute. I would have asked them to drive."