markos geneti

On one of the stormiest days in L.A. Marathon history, Markos Geneti had a lot of things working against him.

The Ethiopian had never run a marathon, wasn't used to training in the rain, and had a terrible stomach stitch.

So when the 26-year-old plowed through shin-deep puddles to shatter the race record by almost two minutes with a time of 2 hours 6 minutes 35 seconds, he said he even surprised himself.

"I was hoping to run 2:07:30," he said, through an interpreter. "But I ran a minute faster."

Geneti not only won, he crossed the finish line with the second-fastest time in the world this year and the fastest time in California history.

"My muscles are a little sore," he said.

via latimes.com.