FREDERICKSBURG, VA. — Coast Guard Lt. Patrick Fernandez ran away from a field of more than 10,000 runners to win the sixth annual Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon on a grey and drizzly morning in Fredricksburg, Va.
Not only was Fernandez overall winner at 1 hour, 11 minutes and 5 seconds, he was also the top finisher of more than 2,600 military members from all services to complete the race.
Marine Corps Reserve Capt. Amanda Burke, an Individual Mobilization Augmentee from Quantico’s Marine Corps Systems Command, was the top female military military finisher — and the second female overall, crossing the finish line in 1 hour, 29 minutes and 12 seconds.
On the course, Fernandez took the lead early in the half marathon and didn’t let go. A 2009 graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, he has been a competitive runner for years and even finished third last year in the 26.2-mile Marine Corps Marathon. He’s currently the operations officer for the Coast Guard Ceremonial Guard in Washington, D.C.
