Rice beats heat, completes marathon

Published 8:28 pm Sunday, April 22, 2012

Atmore resident Mark Rice once again accomplished his goal of completing the Boston Marathon Monday finishing the race in just over 3 1/2 hours.

Rice, the administrator for Atmore Vision Center, finished the 116th running of the marathon with a time of 3:35:32, which placed him in 3,799th place out of more than 26,000 participants. In his age division, Rice placed 217th.

Completing the marathon proved to be no easy task with the city of Boston reaching a record-high temperature during the event.

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“Boston hit a record high of 87 that day (prior record was 84) so it was a smoking hot run,” Rice said. “It reduced the winning time by nine minutes from last year. I’m really happy to have the time I go for the weather.”

Participating in his fourth Boston Marathon, Rice was again continuing his strive to influence people to choose to be healthy.

In an earlier interview with The Advance, Rice said his reason for wanting to improve his health was for family.

“I suppose it is some realization that I am aging,” Rice said. “As I saw some things changing, I wanted to stay young and enjoy life. I have a six-year-old daughter, so that is a big part of my motivation to stay healthy for her. I also want to encourage people to choose to be healthy.”