FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Boudreaux, Rodriguez Conquer Garden of Life Palm Beaches Marathon Challenge
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida (December 10, 2023) - Simon Boudreaux needed a
break from the day-to-day grind of life, so he left his 6-month-old
daughter with grandparents in Quebec City, Canada, and headed to Florida
for a five-day vacation.
The 2023 Garden of Life Palm Beaches Marathon, one of the most scenic
long-distance races in the country, turned out to be just the relief that
he needed.
With his girlfriend and their sisters cheering him on along Flagler Drive
in Downtown West Palm Beach, Bordreax, 31, won his first Marathon Sunday in
a Boston-qualifying time of 2:39:39. He was more than eight minutes faster
than West Palm Beach resident Samuel Luttier, who finished in 2:47:48.
Alana Rodriguez, 39, of Ann Arbor, Michigan also won her first marathon in
Boston-qualifying time, turning in a personal-best 3:10:08. With her
husband watching on, Rodriguez took over the lead from Fort Myers' Paige
Filmanowicz at the 21-mile marker. Beth Reed of Lake Mary, Florida also
passed a fading Filmanowicz to finish second in 3:14:04.
Wellington native Charles Richardson (1:19:04) and Palm Beach transplant
Leigha Torino (1:25:06) made it four first-time winners on the day with
their wins in the Half Marathon race.
The winners were among the 3,500 runners who experienced the beauty of the
downtown West Palm Beach waterfront over the weekend in the growing
destination race. Saturday's Garden of Life Sun Run 5K and the accompanying
10K race kicked off the weekend.
Runners came from an event-record 31 countries – as far away as Australia –
and 41 states to participate in the annual running experience that boasts
no bridges or hills over a flat 26.2 miles. The temperature hovered around
76 degrees throughout the early-morning race that started and ended outside
the downtown Meyer Amphitheatre.
Runners spent much of the race on palm-lined Flagler Drive that afforded
stunning views of the Intracoastal Waterway at sunrise. Multiple holiday
decorations were on the race route, including Sandi, the world's only
35-ft, 700-ton holiday sand tree – and five other waterfront sand
sculptures made from a combined 1,000 tons of sand.
Runners ran as far north as Manatee Lagoon, then doubled back on a southern
Flagler swing that included a trip through the lively, quaint and historic
West Palm Beach neighborhoods.
"The Marathon weekend continues to grow as one of the world's great
destination races in the Iconic Palm Beaches," Race owner Kenneth R.
Kennerly said.
Bourdeaux, an accountant working for the Canadian government, was running
his fourth-career marathon and led wire-to-wire. His previous bests were
fourth and fifth place finishes back home.
"It felt great. The wind was tough, some heat, but a great course,"
Bourdeaux said of his first Marathon win. "I came down here from the cold
but the heat didn't affect me as much. It wasn't a personal- record, but I
was happy with the race."
Rodriguez, an Ann Arbor, Michigan resident, also sought out a warm weather
marathon and turned it into a three-day weekend. She works at the Center
for Global Health Equity at the University of Michigan, ran on her high
school team, and has "dabbled" in long-distance running ever since."
Her performance Sunday was a little more than "dabbling" though.
"I was looking for a winter race in warm conditions, and it checked all the
boxes - with a vacation after," Rodriguez said. "I went out too fast. Then
I thought to myself ‘if I take a risk it might be the best day of my life.'
I didn't think I could do a time like this. Now I'm very curious."
Richardson, 22, ran neck-and-neck with Palm Beach Gardens runners Hudson
Gates and Brandon Smith before separating himself midway through the
half-marathon. Gates, fifth a year ago in this race, was second (1:19:57)
and Smith (1:20:21) equaled his 2022 third-place finish.
"That was the goal," Richardson said of his win. "My family is here and I'm
down for the holidays. I thought I'd pop out and do my best. It just worked
out. I tried to play it smart and be efficient with the way I ran. I ran a
lot in other people's drafts."
Richardson, a Wellington High School graduate who last ran in the Garden of
Life Palm Beaches Half-Marathon in 2019, is a computer science major who
graduates from the University of Florida in five days. Two days later, he
and two buddies are biking the 200 miles from Orlando to West Palm Beach
"because it's a cool thing to do."
"I just got this thing I like to go Zone 5," Richardson said. "I go all out
in everything. Today I was going to win or die. At the end of the day, I
like to have fun. Anything to have fun and push it to the limit."
Despite a running pedigree that includes All-ACC honors in the 800 meters
while she was a senior at Duke University, the 24-year-old Torino was
running in her first-ever Half Marathon. She wasn't expecting it to also be
her first win.
"It was a surprise but I'll take it," she said. "I was kind of going with
the flow. I didn't know what to expect."
While Torino celebrated, she was trying to get a glimpse of boyfriend Drake
Anzano, who was still running and trying to improve on his 11th place
marathon finish in 2022.
"He is going to be so excited for me," she said, without knowing that
Anzano would also medal with a third-place finish."
The weekend's races benefitted Special Olympics Florida, which serves over
60,000 athletes statewide.
Palm Beach Gardens-based Garden of Life, a Nestlé Health Science brand, was
in its fourth year as title sponsor of the race. The company is today's
recognized leader and innovator in carbon-neutral-certified, whole food,
Certified USDA Organic and Non-GMO Project Verified nutrition. It offers
more than 400 time-tested supplements by leading scientists – all to
Empower Extraordinary Health®. Whether a vitamin or a probiotic or a
protein powder, Garden of Life products always start with fresh, real,
whole foods that are traceable back to the seed.
MARATHON MEN
Pos Name City, State Time
1 Simon Boudreau Quebec, Canada 02:39:39
2 Samuel Luttier West Palm Beach,FL 02:47:48
3 Drake Anzano West Palm Beach,FL 03:01:56
4 Samuel Hebda Lake Worth,FL 03:04:40
5 Yisroayl Peer Delray Beach,FL 03:06:09
6 Juan Pablo Arias Envigado,Colombia 03:06:26
7 Koren Fowler Brooklyn,NY 03:07:35
8 B.Van Der Riet Winter Garden,FL 03:08:48
9 Josh Ewing Simone Goffstown,NH 03:09:55
10 Daniel Hefty Vero Beach,FL 03:17:47
11 Quinn Shaw Costa Mesa,CA 03:17:48
12 Rafael Castro Bogota, Colombia 03:18:35
13 Charlie Emerson Jupiter,FL 03:18:56
14 Shayne Francis Richmond, VA 03:19:11
15 Frederik Oliveira Pompano Beach,FL 03:20:33
16 Nathan Ashcraft Jupiter,FL 03:20:34
17 Josh Vandagriff Lake Worth,FL 03:22:02
18 Ben Voss Prospect,KY 03:22:07
19 Martin Bailey Quebec,Canada 03:24:07
20 J M Charles West Palm Beach,FL 03:25:16
21 Liam Lazere Lake Worth,FL 03:25:35
22 Marley Rousseau Brooklyn,NY 03:26:03
23 Carl St-Jacques Montreal, Canada 03:26:18
24 Ryan Deauville West Palm Beach,FL 03:27:58
25 Maxim Umarov Weston,FL 03:28:52
MARATHON WOMEN
1 Alana Rodriguez Ann Arbor,MI 03:10:08
2 Beth Reed Lake Mary,FL 03:14:04
3 Paige Filmanowicz Fort Myers,FL 03:15:17
4 Kelley Moyer Pennsboro,WV 03:19:37
5 Laura Sellew Gainesville,FL 03:21:37
6 Autumn Kruse West Palm Beach,FL 03:23:15
7 Marilene Gosselin Levis 03:23:37
8 Charlotte Ramser Coral Springs,FL 03:23:43
9 Emily Daycock Fort Lauderdale,FL 03:25:57
10 Stephanie Robert Naples,FL 03:32:50
11 Deviji Ramdeen Jupiter,FL 03:32:58
12 Brianna Bagnoli Chicago,IL 03:38:25
13 Maggie Marsh Miami,FL 03:41:00
14 Paige Douglass Miami,FL 03:48:29
15 Cassandra Mandel Lansing,MI 03:49:37
16 Leah Steiner Denville,NJ 03:49:48
17 Valeria Duque Miami,FL 03:53:21
18 Maria Urso Jupiter,FL 03:53:50
19 Eileen O'dea Westwood,NJ 03:55:34
20 Adriana Finol Royal Palm beach,FL 03:58:42
21 Alexandra Foglia West Palm Beach,FL 03:59:05
22 Anastasia Cortez Sydney, Australia 03:59:51
23 Laura Russell Jupiter,FL 04:00:36
24 Karine Dumont Montreal, Canada 04:03:09
25 Kam Holland Tampa,FL 04:05:01
MENS HALF MARATHON
Pos Name City, State Time
1 Charles Richardson Wellington,FL 01:19:04
2 Hudson Gates Palm Beach Gardens,FL 01:19:57
3 Brandon Smith Palm Beach Gardens,FL 01:20:21
4 George Santana North Palm Beach,FL 01:22:14
5 Manuel Cortes Miami,FL 01:22:35
6 Daniel Yinh Palm Beach Gardens,F 01:23:02
7 Jose Manuel Calvo Wellington,FL 01:24:25
8 Michael Madden Newton Upper Falls,MA 01:24:43
9 Marcelo Fiusa Carneiro Boca Raton,FL 01:25:07
10 Joe Rodbard West Palm Beach,FL 01:25:50
11 Thiago Carone Fort Lauderdale,FL 01:25:57
12 Matt Mason West Palm Beach,FL 01:26:52
13 John Reback Jupiter,FL 01:27:18
14 Javier Catalan Garcia Lake Worth,FL 01:27:25
15 Kevin Herman West Palm Beach,FL 01:28:04
16 Nicolas Guerschanik Palm Beach Gardens,FL 01:28:35
17 Miguel Amesty Fort Lauderdale,FL 01:29:06
18 Wassim Sentissi Boynton Beach,FL 01:29:19
19 Joshua Olds Fort Lauderdale,FL 01:29:26
20 Greg Lovell North Palm Beach,FL 01:29:32
21 Andrew Oneill Delray Beach,FL 01:30:00
22 Taj Ruiz Boynton Beach,FL 01:30:08
23 Robert Leidy West Palm Beach,FL 01:30:10
24 Rob Pulsifer Parkland,FL 01:31:30
25 Jinhao Zhang West Palm Beach,FL 01:31:40
WOMEN'S HALF MARATHON
1 Leigha Torino West Palm Beach,FL 01:25:06
2 Stephanie Pi Miami,FL 01:29:29
3 Amanda Jones West Palm Beach,FL 01:30:51
4 Kasia Raczkiewicz Ulhowek,Poland 01:32:02
5 Jamie Rogers Bentonville,AR 01:32:12
6 Luiza Vorontsova Miami,FL 01:32:15
7 Yuliia Moroz North Miami Beach,FL 01:32:22
8 Laurel Carpenter Fort Lauderdale,FL 01:35:12
9 Cailey Denoncourt Newton Center,MA 01:36:45
10 Lily Marshall West Palm Beach,FL 01:37:54
11 Kelly Gentilcore West Palm Beach,FL 01:38:00
12 Hannah Anderson Lake Worth Beach,FL 01:38:08
13 Dorothea Trotter Boynton Beach,FL 01:39:28
14 Gracely Briley Olathe,KS 01:40:01
15 Maura Short Palm Beach Gardens,FL 01:40:32
16 Nicole Hastaba Palm Beach Gardens,FL 01:40:32
17 Maria Espino West Palm Beach,FL 01:41:02
18 Caitlin Fielding Hobe Sound,FL 01:41:14
19 Avery Fronrath North Palm Beach,FL 01:41:51
20 Shannon Fox Jupiter,FL 01:42:24
21 Lindsay Leblanc Palm Beach Gardens,FL 01:43:03
22 Sofia Oestberg Krokom Poland 01:43:18
23 Tina Batoh-Jennings Boca Raton,FL 01:43:33
24 Mary Galbicka North Palm Beach,FL 01:43:34
25 Sarah Kimmey Palm Beach Gardens,FL 01:44:10
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