Kelpe fifth in Mercedes Marathon

Bryan Kelpe said he had one thing on his mind when he set foot on the starting line at the Mercedes Marathon in Birmingham, Ala.

"I just wanted to finish," Kelpe said.

Even better, how about finishing fifth among 662 runners with a time of 2:53.41?

"I did much better than I thought I would," Kelpe said of his personal-best marathon time.

The 26.2-mile course featured a variety of terrain, although the first 9 miles seemed to race fairly flat for Kelpe and other competitors.

"I expected something to go wrong," he said, "but I felt great the whole way."

Miles nine through 13 offered a section of rolling hills, as the runners finished flat in the 40 degree weather.

Kelpe's time was six minutes faster than his personal best, pretty good considering he wasn't able to train as he hoped because of several personal setbacks.

Kelpe said he hadn't run more than 12 miles since October.

"I wasn't up to par," he said. "If I would have trained intelligently, I think I could have run a lot faster."

Kelpe may get his chance again soon since he has an eye on the Pikes Peak Marathon in August. That's another course that consists of running 13 miles up the side of the mountain and gaining more than 7,500 feet in elevation.

"If I do it," he said, "I'll just go there and try to finish."

Sounds familiar.