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HIGH POINT— Ryan Carroll wanted half but got the full. Then he got nothing.

On Saturday he started out running a 13.1-mile half marathon in High Point, but missed a turn and turned in the best time in the North Carolina Marathon.

But technically, he wasn't the winner. Thirty-nine-year-old Chuck Engle of Dublin, Ohio, earned that distinction by finishing the 26.2-mile course in 2:46.04.

But Carroll's time of 2:42:22 was certainly noteworthy, even though he was disqualified because he only signed up for the half marathon.

"The hardest part was going off the half marathon pace and slowing down," Carroll said of the race. "I wanted to win. I came for a win."

After logging 10 miles in the half marathon, one of three races connected to the marathon, Carroll expected to see the city's downtown come into view, and then a finish line. Instead he was miles from downtown, surrounded by subdivisions and open space.

After yelling ahead to the race's lead car, he learned that the nearest runner was three miles behind. He had missed a turn near Mile 8.

Carroll wasn't the only runner who veered off course Saturday. About a dozen other half-marathoners far behind Carroll cut five miles from their races after wrong turns.

"We have signage and we have volunteers to show the runners where to go," said race director Melissa Fourrier. She added that USA Track & Field says it's the runners' responsibility to know the road course.

A similar situation occurred in Raleigh at the 2008 Rex Healthcare Half-Marathon. Kenyan native Nicholas Kurgat, a resident of Chapel Hill, ended up finishing first in the full marathon, only to be disqualified from both races.

Proceeds from the UnitedHealthcare of the Carolinas North Carolina Marathon, which had 2,364 register to race, benefits Foster Friends of North Carolina, which Fourrier also directs.

The day also included a 5K run. But Carroll's race was the only incident among the finishers.

Upon learning of his error, Carroll stopped for 2 minutes and thought of what to do.

"For a few seconds," the Portsmouth, Va., native said as he laid on a massage table after the race in a red singlet and running shorts, "I was very frustrated and almost angry."

Experienced marathoners call the 26.2-mile race a challenge, and often say the 13.1-mile race is fun. And Carroll knows marathons well. In 2009 he finished in the top 500 at the Boston Marathon, one of the world's most elite races.

Conventional running wisdom says that winning -- let alone simply running -- a marathon takes months of preparation, training and diet plans.

"It feels good," Carroll said. "It was just unexpected."

Others came for fun, fitness or family time.

Or a bit of all.

"You just get up, the coffee going and cheer them on," said Connie Weant of High Point, who stood shortly after 8 a.m. at the corner of Hamilton Street and Montileu Avenue.

About 50 others gathered there, about 4.5 miles into the marathon and half-marathon. The two shared the same route until Mile 8.

Weant's daughter, Rebecca, rounded the corner with both her arms raised, while her brunette ponytail bobbed behind.

"Woo! Hey!" she hollered as her parents cheered.

Rebecca Weant finished with a personal-best time of 1:42:33 in the half marathon.

She's competitive, but she also runs for mental health.

"It lets me relieve all my stress and frustration," she said.

Contact Gerald Witt at 373-7008 or gerald.witt @news-record.com