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(Josh Cox en route to his 50k American Record, photo courtesy of Kurt Hoy)

35-year-old Josh Cox from Mammoth Lakes, CA, won the P.F Chang's Rock n Roll Arizona Marathon today (2:17:48) and then continued on to set a new American Record for the 50k of 2:43:45. He bested the mark he set here in 2009 (2:45:17), and was only 7 seconds short of breaking the world record*.

[quote from USA Today]

"Seven seconds is hard to swallow," Cox said. "But I'm happy. The American record is nothing to hang your head about."

[quote from competitor.com]

“I think I should have kept the horses in the barn a little longer, but such is hindsight, “ said Cox. “It was a great day. It wasn’t all there, obviously. I would have liked to have run seven seconds faster, but it’s just like two years ago. I wanted to run the world record then. We had a rule in college. Whenever you set a PR, you’re not allowed to say anything negative about the race. You have to be happy with a PR. They don’t come often. I got the American record and I got the title and that’s forever.”

[from his Twitter feed]

"Thanks for the love! 1st, last, or anywhere in between, God is good! AR, 7 seconds off world mark. Was fun... & hard."

BTW, shout out to my sister-in-law Jennifer Drue, who finished her first half marathon at Rock n Roll Arizona in 2:02:24! And to XTERRA Trail World Champ Sally Meyerhoff for winning the marathon in 2:37:55...wow!

Congrats, Josh Cox! And lest I forget, also congrats on winning Rock n Roll Arizona and qualifying for the 2012 Olympic Trails (fourth Trials!). 

* The 50k world record of 2:42:38 was set by South Africa's Thompson Magawana in 1988.