More than 6,000 runners and walkers, 2,500 volunteers and 100,000 spectators flooded the streets of Columbus for the 24th annual Columbus Marathon yesterday.
The Columbus Marathon is a nationally and internationally renowned event that is ranked by Runner’s World Magazine as one of America’s top 20 marathons.
There were two course records set yesterday. Lydmyla Pushkina of Ukraine set a new female record with a time of 2:28:15 and Ernst Vandyk of South Africa also set a record in the male wheelchair division with a time of 1:26:47. The other big winners of the day were Ronald Mojaka of Kenya with a time of 2:14:10 in the male division, and Cherie Baluwet from Iowa in the female wheelchair division with a time of 1:55:47.
The winners of the male and female divisions each received $5,000, while the winners of the wheelchair division took home a $2,000 prize. Pushkina received a $25,000 bonus for breaking the course record by over eight seconds. Vandyk also took home a bonus of $2,000 for breaking the male wheelchair record.
Many of the on-lookers were cheering for local hero, Jim Jurcevich. Last year, Jurcevich just missed winning the marathon, finishing only 12 seconds behind the winner Sergey Fedotov.
Jurcevich has been training hard all year and has finished 11 competitive races since February 2003.
Once again, this wasn’t his year as Jurcevich just missed winning the marathon. He again finished in second place with a time of 2:15:13. Jurcevich, who was recently ranked the eighth U.S. marathoner by Running Times Magazine, represented the only chance a Columbus resident had of winning the marathon.
“This is the Columbus Marathon. It isn’t right that a native of Columbus has never won it,” said Bill Fields, a Westerville resident, before the race started.
Another local resident offered a similar opinion.
“I have been coming to these races for something like 15 years and have never seen a local guy even come close, until last year,” said Barry Christian, a resident of Upper Arlington.
The race started on Broad Street between High and Third streets and wound through campus before ending its 26.2 miles near Nationwide Arena. The completion of I-670 allowed for a change in the last mile of the marathon and enabled runners to go by Goodale Park before heading for the finish line.
Along the course, runners were cheered on not only by spectators, but also the volunteers.
“I just admire these people so much. Some of them have trained all year long for just this one event. I have trouble getting up to go to work, yet these people would get up at 5 a.m. to go run 10 miles,” said Melissa Butler, a volunteer near the end of the race.
The marathon also helped to raise money for a number of causes. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Societys Team In Training is just one example. It is a nationwide organization that trains people to run in marathons. The participants then get pledges from friends and family and all the money raised is donated towards cures for blood cancers, such as leukemia. Close to 100 members competed in this weekend’s race and upwards of $150,000 was raised for the cause.
“The marathon was an absolute success; we had more participants than ever before,” said Sarah Irvin, spokeswoman for the race.
