Jacksonville runner wins annual runDisney event

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – (Feb. 27, 2011) – Holding off challengers virtually the entire race Sunday, Jennifer Hanley-Pinto of Jacksonville, Fla. survived long enough to cross the finish line first to win Disney’s 2011 Princess Half Marathon at Walt Disney World Resort.

Caitlin Latimer of Lexington, Ky. came in second with a time of 1:23:14, which was just 24 seconds behind Hanley-Pinto, whose winning time was 1:22:50. Heather Schulz of Orlando was third (1:25:01) despite running a faster time than last year when she finished second.

Yet as fast as the field was, no one could quite outrun Hanley-Pinto, 33. Latimer and Schulz stayed on her heels down the stretch but couldn’t overtake her as she finished ahead of a field of more than 17,000 runners. In all, more than 22,000 runners participated in endurance events throughout the weekend at Disney, including a health and fitness expo, a 5K and several kid races.

The weekend of events were all designed to celebrate and promote women’s empowerment, health and an active lifestyle. It’s widely regarded as one of the nation’s largest endurance race weekends geared towards women.

Disney’s Princess Half Marathon Weekend was the second of runDisney’s four signature events. The remaining two are the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend (September 2-4, 2011) and the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend (September 30-October 1, 2011) events. For more information or to registration for any runDisney events, go to www.rundisney.com.