Most people are usually a little intimidated by the idea of running a marathon, since it usually requires at least a few weeks of training as well as a certain mindset. However, 12-year-old LeeAdianez Rodriguez-Espada was clearly not intimidated by the Flower City Half Marathon, which she had joined completely by accident!
But how did a young girl end up joining a half marathon by mistake? According to Parenting, It was all about timing.
LeeAdianez, who is called Lee by her friends, revealed that she was supposed to take part in the more age-appropriate Wegmans Family 5k in Rochester, New York on April 24. However, the run had already started when the 12-year-old arrived at the starting line and was told to just start running.
Lee ran for a while and began to realize she was on the wrong race when she couldn't find the finish line as she went past the 3 mile mark."That's when it struck me that I was in the half marathon instead of the 5k," she admitted to CNN.
Anybody else would have just given up right there and then, but not young Lee. The 12-year-old kept running, completing the half marathon in 2 hours 43 minutes.
Associated Press reports that Lee took home a medal and finished at the 1,885th place. Since there were 2,111 runners in the Flower City Half Marathon, Lee actually beat out 226 other participants.
Lee isn't the only adorable accident marathon runner in recent news. In January, a 2-and-a-half-year-old hound dog named Ludivine left her house and somehow ended up joining the Trackless Train Trek Half Marathon in Elkmont, Alabama.
Runners World was first to report how the canine actually ran the 13.1 mile race and took the seventh place after finishing the race in only 1 hour, 32 minutes, 56 seconds. Ludivine's story was immediately picked up by netizens around the world, catapulting her into internet stardom and she was even featured on Inside Edition.
