SAN ANTONIO – It’s not often that we cover stories about people who finish dead last in a race, but we’re making an exception for father-son duo, Rick and Eric Battersby.
Both kicked off the San Antonio Marathon weekend by participating in Friday night’s 5K.
Eric Battersby, 49, ran in the 5K and full marathon. Rick Battersby, 74, however, had one goal: to finish the 5K.
Eric Battersby told KSAT his father spent the last few months recovering from knee replacement surgery.
“My dad had a goal of just finishing the thing. I mean, he was probably about 10 days shy of six months of knee replacement recovery,” Eric Battersby said.
Both Eric and Rick Battersby did, in fact, finish the 5K. Both were the last two to cross the finish line, donning Buddy the Elf hats.
“We crossed the finish line arm-in-arm, and I guess he out-leaned me and got me by about one tenth of a second. And so technically, I was the last-place finisher in the 5K,” Eric Battersby said.
Eric Battersby admits it wasn’t easy. At one point, he was unsure his father would finish because of his knee. But now he thinks he’ll do it again.
“My dad being able to just get through the thing and just finish it...he gave himself something to shoot for next time,” he said.
Read more on the marathon: Thousands of runners, joggers cross finish line at inaugural San Antonio Marathon