Army 2nd Lt. Trevor Lafontaine was the first of over 30,000 runners from 50 countries to finish the 40th Annual Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. The Army officer finished the race in 2 hours, 24 minutes and 24 seconds, which was nearly a full two minutes faster than the race’s second place runner.

Lafontaine is a 22 year-old West Point graduate currently on temporary assignment so he can train West Point’s cross-country team.

At first, Lafontaine stuck with his West Point buddies. He had never run more than 10 kilometers in one race before, and his lack of experience prevented him from snagging an early lead. By the half-way point of the race, Lafontaine had left his friends behind and joined the front pack of runners. He shared the lead with Mexican military contractor Oscar Mateo Santos for a time, but at the 19 mile mark Santos got a leg cramp and fell back. Lafontaine beat Santos by 1:43.

“I just didn’t know what was going to happen after 22 miles,” Lafontaine said. “I was a little nervous, but every step felt all right, so I relaxed.”

The first female race finisher was Jenny Mendez Suanca, a three-time marathon winner from Costa Rica who secured her first ever international win at the race. She rolled across the finish line at 2 hours, 45 minutes and 55 seconds. She beat the second-place female racer, Marine Christine Taranto, by seven minutes.

Other race finishers included Marine veterans Al Richmond, 76, and Will Brown, 69, the only two remaining “ground pounders” who have run and finished the Marine Corps Marathon every single year it has existed.