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KD Country: No. 1 Runner

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Sep 23, 2009 8:54 pm US/Eastern

KD Country: No. 1 Runner

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― The 32nd Great Race will kick off Sunday morning – the last Sunday in September - as it always does every year.

And the winner of the very first race in 1977 will again be part of the pack.

Carl Hatfield of Bridgeport, W. Va., jogs through Frick Park near the Beechwood Avenue starting line.

He pauses to remember that big win, years ago.

"I do remember that. I was very excited for the first Great Race," he said.

He led most of the way, but another runner was closing fast as the finish line loomed.

"But I managed to throw in another surge toward the end of the race," he recalls, "and to pull away for the victory for the first race."

Carl Hatfield is one of 26 men who've run every race. Numbers in the Great Race are assigned by alphabetical order, with one exception. The winner of race No. 1 gets to wear No. 1 forever.

He was national marathon champ in 1978, and his daughter Stephanie would later achieve success of her own as an All-State runner with West Virginia Wesleyan.

Sunday, they'll run together, though Carl admits he's slowing down.

"I always try to get in a little extra training so I won't embarrass myself," he laughs.

Carl Hatfield's family is known for a long ago feud: the Hatfields and McCoys.

But his mom married a Hatfield and when he passed away she married a McCoy. Feud over. But Carl just wants to keep that perfect race streak going.

"I'm hoping that when I'm 85 years old I'm still coming to Pittsburgh. I might have to get somebody to drive me up from West Virginia. But I still hope to make my presence known," he said.

No problem there. Who wouldn't notice a runner who is always No. 1?

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