Unaware of the final results of the Livestrong Austin Marathon, Craig Bixler met his daughter a few blocks from the finish line shortly after she had crossed it.
He approached her holding a takeout order of pancakes, the post-race meal 24-year-old Shannon Bixler had requested the day before the marathon.
Before handing her the food, he asked his daughter how she finished.
Shannon Bixler simply raised her index finger, indicating No. 1.
Competing in her eighth marathon, Bixler — a former cross country runner at Saint Louis University — picked up her biggest victory in the event Sunday. Her finishing time of 3 hours, 2 minutes and 28 seconds topped the women's field at the Livestrong Austin Marathon and set a career best.
Inna Vishik , of Stanford, Calif., placed second in 3:08:51, while Austinite Pia-Maria Molin took third in 3:08:51 . Defending champion Desiree Ficker, whose finishing time a year ago was 2:50:35, dropped out after about five miles because of a leg injury.
Bixler learned she was in second place at the midway point of the 26.2-mile race, and she averaged a 6:57-per-mile pace.
"The goal was to get to mile 20 and start picking up the pace," said Bixler, who moved to Austin from Chicago last month. "That pushed me when I found out my position because I was excited.
"I started out conservatively. My goal was never to win. I thought maybe I could place. My strategy was run my race by feeling good, stay smooth, be safe and strong."
Bixler started out running with the 3:10-pace group, and she ran with her father from mile 15 to mile 22.
"My fingers were crossed," said Craig Bixler, a longtime runner who founded the Fox Valley Marathon in St. Charles, Ill. "I dropped off at mile 22, but I knew how well she finishes. It was an exciting moment when I found out that she was able to get first place."
Bixler said her co-workers at Luke's Locker, a local running apparel store, served as training partners before the race, and she covered the final yards with a Texas flag — a gift from race organizers — spread behind her as a cape.
"I'm glad that I can say that I'm from Austin coming across that finish line," she said. "They gave me the Texas flag to hold because I'm an Austinite now."
Published in the Austin American-Statesman on Feb. 19, 2012.
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