Sports briefs

An unplanned bathroom break may have cost Mammoth Lakes’ marathoner Josh Cox a world record in the 50K, according to www.azcentral.com.

On Jan. 16, Cox soundly beat the competition in the P.F. Chang Rock ‘n Roll Arizona Marathon with a time of 2 hours, 17 minutes, 32 seconds, but needed an unplanned bathroom stop just past 14 miles that probably cost him the 50K world record, the website said.

Cox continued from the P.F. Chang finish line to the Arizona State track to complete the 50K, where he almost took down the world record (2:43:38) set by Thompson Magawana at the 1988 Two Oceans Ultra Marathon in South Africa. The 50K is just over 31 miles and is also considered an ultramarathon, versus the 26.2 mile marathon. Cox’s time: 2:43:45, according to runnersworld.com.

“Seven seconds is hard to swallow,” Cox commented to Runner’s World. “But I’m happy. The American record is nothing to hang your head about. I did everything I could to click off those final miles. I’ll be back” Cox broke the U.S. 50K record he set two years ago by more than three and a half minutes.

Cook named to Alpine Team

Mammoth local Stacey Cook joins past Olympians Julia Mancuso, Lindsay Vonn and Bode Miller, and 15 other elite athletes on the 2011 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships Team. The team was announced on Jan. 26, and the biennial event runs Feb. 8-20 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

X-Games this weekend

The 2011 Winter X-Games are going on now at Buttermilk Mountain in Aspen, Colo. and are featuring nine of Mammoth’s athletes. John Teller, Kaya Turski, Maude Raymond, Chris Logan, Tyler Flanagan, Mason Aguirre, Luke and Jack Mitrani and 2010 Olympian Greg Bretz will compete in many of the ski and snowboard events. Watch the action on ESPN through Jan. 30. For a complete event schedule, go to www.espn.go.com.