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Purple Heart Iraq vet takes second in men's marathon; over 9,000 participate in three races at 30th edition
Race report from Leigh Greenfelder
CLEVELAND - (May 20, 2007) - Participation in the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon surged by more than 15 percent for its 30th edition on Sunday, with Northeast Ohio runners among the top finishers in nearly every race category.
In the marathon, it was a neck-and-neck competition for nearly 13 miles with Brian McNeil of Charlotte, N.C. pulling ahead of runner-up, Gerado Avilla of Flushing, Mich. around mile 23. McNeil, 23, completed the 26.2 mile course, which has been recognized by Running USA as one of the fastest marathons in the country based on median times, with a time of 2 hours, 31 minutes, 6 seconds. Avilla, 32, a Purple Heart recipient and active duty soldier stationed in New York, who was injured in 2004 in Iraq, ran 2:32:19. Gregory Byrnes, 23, of Pittsburgh was third in 2:36:07.
The top three women in the marathon each set a personal record. Claudia Colita, 29, from Romania won the women's race in 2:48:41, while Laura Brosius, 22, of Saline, Mich. finished second (3:03:43) and Stow, Ohio native Cindy Kasper, 33, was third this year, one place higher than her 2006 finish, in 3:05:05.
The increasingly popular half-marathon, in its third year at the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon, was dominated by Ohio runners. The top six male and top four female finishers were all Ohio residents. Derrick Butler, 26, of Cincinnati set a course record in 1:07:54. Fred Keiser, 36, of Cleveland who was the 2005 marathon winner, claimed second in the 13.1 mile race with his 1:09:18 and Ryan Hochstetler, 25, of Wooster, finished third (1:10:23).
Anjanette Arabian, 33, of Rocky River, was the unchallenged women's half-marathon champion at 1:21:58. Eva Miller, 27, of Hudson, was second in 1:25:07 and third place was claimed by Tracy Meder, 27, from Stow, with a 1:26:44.
Official results for the 10K race were not available at press time because an undetermined number of runners ran off the official course. Race officials will attempt to determine the number of runners who ran off course and plan to extend prize money to top finishers affected by the error.
As of Sunday morning, 9,077 participants were registered to run, walk or wheel in one of the three races that were part of the 30th Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon.
30th Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon - Cleveland, OH, Sunday, May 20, 2007
MEN
1) Brian McNeil (NC), 2:31:06, $1000
2) Gerado Avilla (MI), 2:32:19, $500
3) Gregory Byrnes (PA), 2:36:07, $300
4) Ray Appenheimer (OH), 2:36:54, $200
5) Jeff Snider (OH), 2:37:56, $100
WOMEN
1) Claudia Colita (ROM), 2:48:41, $1000
2) Laura Brosius (MI), 3:03:43, $500
3) Cindy Kasper (OH), 3:05:05, $300
4) Anna McClaugherty (OH), 3:06:57, $200
5) Tricia Brau (OH), 3:08:58, $100
Race results at: ClevelandMarathon.com.
Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Director
(805) 696-6232; Fax = (805) 659-0016
Ryan@RunningUSA.org
www.RunningUSA.org.
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