 April Luu took first place last month both days at the weekend-long Spartan race in Glen Rose, Texas. Luu, who was featured in The New Falcon Herald’s Face to Face column in October, is a fitness instructor at the Woodmen Hills Recreation Center – and an avid runner.
On Saturday, Luu was the first to cross the finish line in the women’s 13 and one-half mile obstacle race. One of the sponsors of the race, Navy Federal Credit Union, awarded her $1,500. “The next closest female was 18 minutes behind me,” Luu said. “I finished in two hours and 19 minutes.” She came in 12th place overall in Saturday’s race.
On Sunday, Luu ran the same race and again took first place in the women’s division; this time, she came in 17th overall. Although she was nine minutes slower than the previous day, Luu still made the record books. “I am the first athlete to complete a “Beast” back-to-back,” she said. “No one else has ever done it.” Luu said each race is labeled, according to distance: a Spartan Sprint is 4 miles; a Super Spartan is 8 miles; and a Spartan Beast is 10 to 13 miles. For Sunday’s win, she received a gift certificate for a pair of shoes from Inov.
Luu is training for another Spartan race in Arizona in February.
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April Luu (center) of Falcon took first place in the women’s category on both Saturday and Sunday at the Spartan race in Texas. Pictured with Luu are fellow runners Rose-Marie Jarry (left) and Jenny Tobin (right). Photo submitted
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Angie Morlan