Kyle Petty is used to racing at speeds of up to 200 mph. But on Sunday, the NASCAR Nextel Cup driver and son of seven-time NASCAR champion Richard Petty was content at a much slower pace.

He finished the Walt Disney World Marathon in 4 hours 42 minutes.

He laughed when asked if he thought about ``going behind the wall.''

Petty said his knee began to bother him a lot around Mile 15.

''I walked a bunch so I wouldn't hurt it,'' he said. ``This is not what I do for a living. I do drive race cars, so I don't need to blow my knee out doing this.

``But it was a lot of fun. And the fans here are great, lining the course. Then you feel bad for walking, man.''

Some of the competitors recognized Petty and talked to him along the way.

Petty said next year he might try to get in good enough shape to run Disney and the Miami Marathon, which is at the end of January.

Petty was talked into running his first marathon by fellow NASCAR driver Michael Waltrip. They ran the Las Vegas Marathon last year. Petty finished in 4:14.

Waltrip wanted to do Disney, too, but had to back out because of a family medical problem. ''But he called me four or five times to wish me good luck,'' Petty said.

RUNNER DIES

A runner who collapsed after he crossed the finish line in Saturday's half-marathon later died at a hospital, authorities said.

William Kane, 43, of Tucson, collapsed Saturday morning and was taken to Celebration Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, said Gary Conduff, a hospital spokesman.

''I understand that he has passed away, and that his next of kin has been notified,'' Conduff said.

Kane finished the race in 2:27:36, while the winner, Josh Eberly of Rochester, Mich., finished in 1:08:12.

Kane played golf professionally until 1992.

RUNNING MOM

Amy Shertzer of Monument, Co., finished second in the women's division in Sunday's marathon in 2:59:14.

While she received her medal, her 8-month-old daughter slept and her 3-year-old son watched.

She has run 22 marathons, but this is the first since the birth of her daughter in April.

Shertzer, 28, said she never saw the female race winner, Paige Higgins, who finished 7 ½ minutes ahead of her.

'I haven't run one for a while, but when my husband signed me up for this one, I thought, `Oh gosh, I've got to really train,' '' Shertzer said.

DOUBLE DUTY

A little more than 2,373 people ran the half-marathon and full marathon in a new event called the ``Goofy Challenge.''

South Floridians Joe Best and running buddy Joe Moya were among those who received the new medal.

''It was a fun race with all the [Disney] characters making it great,'' said Best, who finished the half-marathon in about 2:45 while running with his sister and did a 4:44 for the marathon.

Moya finished the full marathon in about 5:13.

--Courtesy of CAMMY CLARK,
and MIAMI HERALD WIRES

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