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Heather Bray, as Elvis, wins women’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon

Updated November 18, 2019 - 10:52 pm

The reincarnation of Elvis Presley won the Rock ’n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon on Sunday night.

OK, not really.

But Heather Bray won while wearing an Elvis Presley costume.

“This is Las Vegas. This is Elvis’ comeback,” she said. “This is pretty special.”

Bray completed the 26.2-mile course Sunday in 3 hours, 13 minutes for her first marathon victory. She had run in two others, posting faster times in both. But the costume was heavier than her usual workout garb.

“It was so worth it,” said Bray, who celebrated the victory with her son, Xander. “A bike came up to me at 20 miles, and I was like ‘Oh my God, I’m actually winning the Las Vegas Marathon.’ ”

Bray, 35, is Canadian but moved to Amsterdam in 2015 to study international law. She won a trip to Las Vegas through the November Project — a free exercise group founded in 2011 in Boston — and trained for four months in preparation for the race. She arrived in Las Vegas on Thursday and says she ran the race with some jet lag.

Emily Rollins finished second with a time of 3:19:42, and Jennifer Creps was third in 3:25:11.

Bray fought back tears as she spoke of her success.

“I feel pretty emotional,” she said. “I’ve had a pretty rough couple years and I feel like this is my comeback.”

Brittney Feivor won the half-marathon with a time of 1:13:20. Angie Nickerson finished second in 1:17:25 and Jessie Vickers was third in 1:17:46.

“I just wanted to go out and try to win,” said Feivor, a native of Kenosha, Wisconsin, who has since relocated to Scottsdale, Arizona. “I didn’t really know what time to shoot for.”

Feivor ran cross country at Marquette and graduated in 2017. She specialized in 5K and 10K races in college, and sought to continue her running career by competing in marathons and half-marathons. She’s also a graduate student at Franklin Pierce University, where she studies physical therapy.

Her father, Greg, died last year of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, and she said she wanted to honor him with her performance Sunday.

“He was one of my biggest supporters,” Feivor said. “This is why I run. To me, he keeps me strong and because he fought so hard with the disease. He always went to all of my races. … He loved to watch me run and I love to run.”

Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.

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