Less than an hour before starting his eighth consecutive bg26.2 marathon, Halbert Walston reflected on how he got into running.

“I do this because I didn’t want to end up sedentary in my old age,” said Walston, a Radcliff resident who lived in Bowling Green for six years.

Walston is one of only two people to have participated in every bg26.2 since the inaugural race in 2012. By his count, Sunday’s race was the 228th marathon in which he has run.

An estimated 773 runners took part in the marathon, half-marathon and associated races that comprise bg26.2, so named because of the distance in miles a marathon covers.

Several runners traveled from other states, and a handful of registered runners came to Bowling Green from Canada and Mexico.

The marathon serves as a qualifier for the Boston Marathon, with a course that wound through downtown Bowling Green and the hilly campus of Western Kentucky University, starting and concluding outside Bowling Green Ballpark.

As one of the race’s fixtures, Walston greeted race director Lilly Riherd and a number of fellow runners in moments between last-minute preparation.

“I don’t get to a starting line and not see someone I’ve run with before,” Walston said.

Runners at bg26.2 hoping to qualify for the Boston Marathon looked to complete this marathon within a certain time that depends on age and gender.

Riherd, a one-time runner who was raised in a family that operated a sporting goods business, hoped to hit a different benchmark with bg26.2.

The race was organized as a tribute to Riherd’s late sister, Susan Riherd, who died in 2005 from complications caused by multiple sclerosis.

Proceeds from the race are donated to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Lilly Riherd marveled at how the race has grown from its beginnings, thanks in part to the assistance of several volunteers.

“It’s gotten to where this is running itself,” she said.

While Lilly Riherd stayed busy managing the event, her 84-year-old mother, Ora Riherd, took part in the bg6000, a 3.728-mile course.

“Mom likes to say that she’s the reason for the cause,” Lilly Riherd said about her mother’s role in the event. “Dad will come up here with her and sit and cheer her on.”

The race attracted a number of seasoned runners who have set a goal to run a marathon in every U.S. state.

One of the half-marathon runners, Brian Rice of Frankfort, competed in costume as the Mad Hatter, complete with gaudy top hat, frizzy red wig, loud orange and black checkered coat and purple running pants.

Rice, who has run marathons in 23 states, finished the half-marathon Sunday in a little more than two hours.

Rice said he typically runs races in costume, citing past forays as Batman, Daniel Boone and the Joker.

“The running community is very supportive, very enthusiastic,” said Rice, who took up running a few years ago with his wife, who was looking to get into better shape. “There’s a great feeling of accomplishment. The first time you try, you wonder ‘Can I do this?’ and after you finish you wonder ‘How many times can I do this?’ ”

Cynthia Major of Raleigh, N.C., has maintained a busy running schedule this year, competing in marathons in Berlin, Paris and Chicago in the past six weeks.

She registered for the half-marathon here as a way of taking it easy, if a 13.1-mile run on a brisk yet sunny fall day can be described as such.

“Running relaxes me, it takes me out of the loop of everything that’s going on the world and I can just be in my own head,” said Major, who has run marathons in 41 states.

– Follow courts reporter Justin Story on Twitter @jstorydailynews or visit bgdailynews.com.