12-year-old girl runs half-marathon by mistake

For many of us, the distance from sofa to kitchen is a daunting prospect.

But one little girl put us all to shame over the weekend - albeit not on purpose.

12-year-old New Yorker Lee Adianez Rodriguez - known as Lee or Adi to her friends and family - was planning to run the Wegmans Family 5k event and was dropped off by her mother Brendalee Espada round the corner of the start line, before she went to park her car.

However, in her rush, Lee accidentally went to the wrong start point and joined thousands of runners who were lining up to complete the Rochester Regional Health Flower City Challenge half-marathon and set off for what she thought was a 3.1 mile run - itself a pretty impressive distance for a 12-year-old.

Obviously, she did not appear at the planned finish line when expected, and her mother spent almost two hours searching for her, enlisting the help of race officials and police officers.

Lee, meanwhile, simply ran on, eventually finishing the hilly course in an astonishing 2:43:31.

"She just wanted to finish the race," said her mother. "Two hours after I started looking for her, I see that one of the officers found her. And I see she has a medal. It was such a scary moment, but rewarding for her in the end. I don't even know how she did it. I'm so proud of her."

Incredibly, five other 12-year-olds completed the course, as well as one 7-year-old, according to the race results. Whoever that 7-year-old is, we want to put money on them being the next Paula Radcliffe.

Lee plans to return to 5k running with her next race in May. But Espada insisted: "We'll run it together at the same pace. Even if she wants to run ahead, she's staying with me."

[via Democrat & Chronicle]

(Image: Shutterstock)