Beto O’Rourke Runs St. Patrick’s-Themed 5K in Iowa – runnersworld.com

• On Saturday, March 16, Beto O’Rourke completed a St. Patrick’s-themed 5K in North Liberty, Iowa, a suburb of Iowa City.
• O’Rourke finished the race in a time of 24:29, earning him third place in his age group.
• He completed the 5K just two days after some other race news: On Thursday, O’Rourke announced that he will be joining the 2020 presidential race.

Unless you knew to look for bib number 173, former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke was easy to miss among the crowd of 141 runners this past weekend in North Liberty, Iowa, a suburb of Iowa City.

O’Rourke donned a low-key look consisting of a white cap, shorts over black tights, and running shoes as he kicked off his Saturday with a St. Patrick’s-themed 5K while campaigning in the Hawkeye State. He finished in 24:29, good enough to place third in his age group (40-49).

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The 5K came just two days after another race announcement: On Thursday, O’Rourke posted a video on Twitter sharing that he will be entering the 2020 presidential race.

The Democratic presidential hopeful even made friends with a fellow runner on the course, discussing music together as they made their way to the finish line, the New Yorker reports. That’s not so odd for O’Rourke, an avid runner and cyclist who has been known to engage with constituents during runs—a defining characteristic during his run for Senate.

Afterwards, O’Rourke stuck around to answer some questions from the crowd.

O’Rourke has completed other races previously, including a 10K last year that ran between El Paso and Mexico. He also been spotted biking to and from his downtown El Paso office, and even held a “Biking with Beto Town Hall” in Dallas when he ran against Ted Cruz for Senate.

Daisy writes for Runner’s World, Bicycling, and Popular Mechanics.