They rolled out the red carpet in Belmont Thursday...for local athlete Becca Pizzi...the first American woman to complete - and win - the World Marathon Challenge. The town officially declared November 4th "Becca Pizzi Day."
What an honor to represent our country...and to know that the whole United States has just rallied for me and pulled for me...and I've gotten messages from all over the world, it was awesome.
Hundreds of fans turned out in Belmont Center for a parade and celebration to honor Pizzi's feat of running 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days.
Pizzi had the top overall time among women in the World Marathon Challenge, and placed 3rd overall.
Said Pizzi, "It was so awesome; it was everything I'd thought it would be...just so much fun. And running on a glacier; when can you say that you've run on a glacier [in Antarctica]?" I felt very lucky to be there"
However, she said running wasn't the only challenge, "Madrid and Morocco were 12 hours apart from each other...so when I crossed the finish line in Madrid, I had 12 hours to get to Morocco...and we were so crunched for time."
Among the scores of people who came to celebrate Pizzi's accomplishment was one of her high school classmates, Rebecca Mihelich, who said she was not the least bit surprised by Becca's triumph, "She was always very motivated; she was always a runner."
Another fan, Mark Grady, a runner himself, had trained with Becca for the 2009 Boston Marathon. "I ran far behind her because I can't keep up with her...but she was great motivation through a very tough winter. She deserves every bit of praise she's getting"
Pizzi said she's humbled by all the support, "What an honor to represent our country...and to know that the whole United States has just rallied for me and pulled for me...and I've gotten messages from all over the world, it was awesome."
Pizzi said she has no intention of taking a break - she's planning to run the Boston marathon in April.
