Olympic Trials qualifier, Brazilian race to victory in Star Wars Half Marathon at Disney

A 2020 U.S. Olympic Trial qualifier and a Brazilian won their respective divisions Sunday during the 2018 Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon at the Walt Disney World Resort.

Brittany Charboneau of Denver, Colo., who recently qualified for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials won the women’s division with a time of 1:21:39. Vanilson Neves of Sao Paulo, Brazil won the men’s division with a time of 1:09:55.

A former runner at Colorado State, the 29-year-old Charboneau quit her job to pursue running and a career as an actor and comedian.

She recently qualified for the 2020 Olympic Trials during the LA Marathon in March and won the female division for both the Disney Princess Enchanted 10K in February and Walt Disney World Half Marathon in January.

“It’s pretty surreal to be honest … I’ve been running for seventeen years and, up until a couple years ago, I had never won a race, ever, not even a 100-meter dash,” said Charboneau. “So, it’s just really cool, because I’ve been working so hard and it’s paying off, so it’s amazing.”

Following Charboneau was Katherine Burkowski of Windermere, Fla. (1:26:09) and Jennifer Barron of Paradise, Canada (1:26:09).

Neves, 30, flew past the competition, building a five-minute lead before winning the 13.1-mile race in 1:09:55. He was followed by Dicson Peixoto Falcao of Fortaleza, Brazil (1:14:38) and Zane Grabau of Gainesville, Fla. (1:15:27).

He recently placed second at the 2018 Walt Disney World Marathon. “The race was very difficult because it was very windy and I was alone for the first kilometer,” said Neves. “… But it was very exciting to win because I took second place in the marathon in January.”

More than 17,000 runners participated in the 13.1-mile race during the third-annual Star Wars Half Marathon – The Dark Side presented by OtterBox.