SAN ANTONIO \u2013 It\u2019s not often that we cover stories about people who finish dead last in a race, but we\u2019re making an exception for father-son duo, Rick and Eric Battersby.<\/p>\n
Both kicked off the San Antonio Marathon weekend by participating in Friday night\u2019s 5K. <\/p>\n
Eric Battersby, 49, ran in the 5K and full marathon. Rick Battersby, 74, however, had one goal: to finish the 5K. <\/p>\n
Eric Battersby told KSAT his father spent the last few months recovering from knee replacement surgery. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy dad had a goal of just finishing the thing. I mean, he was probably about 10 days shy of six months of knee replacement recovery,\u201d Eric Battersby said.<\/p>\n
Both Eric and Rick Battersby did, in fact, finish the 5K. Both were the last two to cross the finish line, donning Buddy the Elf hats. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe crossed the finish line arm-in-arm, and I guess he out-leaned me and got me by about one tenth of a second. And so technically, I was the last-place finisher in the 5K,\u201d Eric Battersby said.<\/p>\n
Eric Battersby admits it wasn\u2019t easy. At one point, he was unsure his father would finish because of his knee. But now he thinks he\u2019ll do it again. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy dad being able to just get through the thing and just finish it…he gave himself something to shoot for next time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n