ORLANDO, Jan. 14--The 15th anniversary of the 2008 Walt Disney World Marathon and Half Marathon started off without a hitch and, as always, served as a litmus test for the health of the sport. On the same weekend, where 34,000+ signed up for the WDW Marathon and Half Marathon, over 35,000 were participating in the PF Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon and Half Marathon, and nearly 20,000 ran in the Chevron Houston Marathon events.

The WDW has historically been one of the testing places for changes in the sport of road racing. Whether by plan or accident, the WDW is either a seer into the future or just plain lucky. First, in the mid '90s, organizers decided to focus on Florida locals and top masters rather than an elite field. The event also became one of the first destination marathons in the country.

Disney Sports has other events, but the WDW is unique. The half marathon is now over 16,000 and the marathon boasts 18,000, and thousands of family members and well wishers shower the finish line with cheers and whistles.

The average finishing time continues to increase, with 3,000 coming in by 3 hours; the prime time being 5-7 hours, with approximately 8,000 finishers. In a destination marathon, participation is key, not the time. In a destination marathon, the number of cause runners is many times more than one-third, sometimes, half of the fields. And, as in destination marathons, multitudes come back year after year.

This weekend, runners in the full marathon have come from all 50 states, DC, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands. Florida has 5,464 registered in the full marathon, with Georgia at 888, New York at 875, Illinois at 665, North Carolina at 589, Texas at 584, Pennsylvania at 559, Virginia at 558, Massachusetts at 546 and California at 520.

In all, 34,000 signed up for the WDW Marathon and Half Marathon. A total of 40,000 runners of all ages participated in WDW activities over the weekend!

On Saturday, Jan. 12, Brooks Hanson's Chad Johnson, C. Fred Joslyn and Patrick Rizzo went 1-2-3, leading 16,000+ to the half marathon finish in Epcot Center. Chad Johnson won in 1:06:53 to Joslyn's 1:06:54 and Rizzo's 1:07:05. Ttheir times were the fourth through sixth fastest times ever at Disney. Brooks Hanson's team owns 13 of the top 20 times ever run on this course.

All three Brooks-Hanson's runners had been recuperating from the 2008 Olympic Trials Men's Marathon. Chad Johnson noted: "I felt pretty good. It was humid out there, but we ran pretty close to our goals. My next race is London, where I hope to run in the 2:13 to 2:14 area, my best is 2:15." When asked how he felt at the Trials, Johnson, a Wisconsin native, observed, "The course was pretty tough, it really beat up my quads. I was disappointed that I did not run faster, as a lot of guys got their personal bests at the Trials."

On the women's side of the half marathon, Florida native Kim Pawalek took 1st place for the fourth time, in 1:18:07. Yolanda Mendoza of the Brooks Hanson's team took 2nd in 1:18:49, 42 seconds behind Pawalek. Yolanda had a tough experience here last year, but felt good in this year's race.

Brooks Hanson's newcomer Lori Zimmerman took 3rd in 1:20:22. At 37, Zimmerman is training for her fourth Olympic Trials marathon.

The Brooks Hanson's team was noted all over the WDW Marathon course Sunday, cheering and encouraging athletes. Coach Kevin Hanson then took a red-eye flight on Saturday to Houston to observe his other runners at the USA Men's Half Marathon Championship.

Adriano Bastos of Brazil won the WDW marathon in front of 18,000 others with a time of 2:20:58, his slowest of the four tries. In 2nd, 14 minutes later, was John Garton of Voorhees, NJ. What probably slowed Bastos was his last 100 meters of gymnastics and take-offs of a male synchronized swimming program as he celebrated win numero cuatro. "Every year I win, it builds the pressure to come back and win the following year," Bastos noted.

Saul Mendoza, a former Athlete of the 20th Century in Mexico, won for the 8th time, his first since 2004.

Mary Peters, 24, from Michigan, now a student at the University of Miami, won the women's marathon in 2:47:32. In 2nd was Sonja Friend-Uhl of West Palm Beach, FL in 2:49.27 and Christa Benton in 3rd, from St. Petersburg, FL.

The Florida Finest program, where Florida Running & Triathlon picks the state's top prospects, was right on this year. Lorraine Evans was three for three as all of the top three women marathon finishers were from her well-picked team. Of note: both the women's and men's current course records are held by athletes picked by Florida Running & Triathlon to run at WDW when they had an elite field.