The annual Cowtown Marathon takes place this weekend, but the race is already over for some.
Instead of pounding the pavement in Fort Worth, more than 130 runners from 18 countries took to a tarmac in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Air Force Lt. Dan Bradfield ran among the wire and military aircraft, protected by armed gunmen.
"It's just a really, really neat experience -- kind of, you know, feel like a little piece of home here," Bradfield said before the race via Skype.
And Bradfield, who helped bring the Cowtown to Kabul, discovered the race had a lot more home than he first thought. His sister, Allison Lewis, and her husband are running the half-marathon, too -- but they're here in Fort Worth.
"As soon as we hung up, I realized, 'Wait, that's the race we're having here, too," he said.
"This is something we can do together and feel like we're supporting him and running with him literally," Lewis said.
"(It's great) to be able to participate in the same race and have a unique sibling experience, albeit 7,000 miles apart or so," Bradfield said.
It's an experience Kabul half-marathon winner Maj. James Boddy can relate to.
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His wife is also running this weekend. The couple ran the Cowtown together last year, said Heidi Swartz, race executive director.
"Thanks, Cowtown," Boddy told the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs Office shortly after crossing the finish line. "It's a great race, a great day. I hope you guys in Fort Worth have the same great weather."
Bradfield and Lewis said they plan on running a race together again soon -- in Dallas later this year after he returns to the United States.
