Huntington natives excel in Chicago
By Nick Johnson on Sunday, October 11th, 2009 |
Eight Huntington natives competed along with 45,000 other runners in the Bank of Chicago Marathon this morning. The runners battled sub-freezing temperatures at the race start, and a fairly strong breeze to finish one of the largest marathons in the United States. The race was won by 2008 Olympic Marathon Champion Sammy Wanjiru in a course record time of 2:05:41 (which is a record for the fastest marathon ever run on US soil). Wanjiru had one heck of a payday considering he walked away with $175,000 for winning and setting the course record. Oh, and Wanjiru also walked away with a check for $500,000 for winning the World Marathon Majors (a series of 5 major marathons). The women’s champion was Liliya Shobukhova, a relatively unknown runner in the marathon world. Shobukhova crossed the finish line in 2:25:56 to secure first place, and to walk away with $75,000.
Leading the way for the Huntington natives were Huntington North alumni Austen Davenport (231st place overall, the 217th male finisher, and 44th in the 20-24 age group) and Justin Clark (263rd place overall, 249th male finisher, and 50th in the 20-24 age group). Clark led Davenport through the half-marathon mark with his split of 1:22:24 (compared to Davenport’s 1:24:21), but Davenport used a very strong second half-marathon to cross the finish line in a time of 2:43:48. Clark was not too far behind, finishing in a time of 2:46:04.
Thomas Gilbert and Stephanie Breeding, both from Roanoke, were the next two Huntington finishers. Gilbert crossed the finish line in a time of 3:26:00, and Breeding finished in 3:35:31. Breeding managed to finish 241st in her age group, and top 5,000 overall (4,953rd).
Steven Ochs (finish time of 4:48:08, 22,801st place overall), Derek Dyer (finish time of 4:50:58, 23,361st place overall), and Marilyn Bradford (finish time of 5:03:17, 25,865th place overall) were the next three Huntington natives to cross the finish line. Darcy Coles was the final finisher from Huntington. Coles finished in 5:19:31, which earned her 28,148th place overall.
Congrats to everyone who completed the race, especially all the Huntington natives!
If you know anyone else from around the area who competed in the 2009 Chicago Marathon please post a comment below with their name and time!
Comments...
Natalie posted on October 14th, 2009 @ 11:25:24Former Huntington native and current Chicago resident, Katie Brautigam-Darr finished the Chicago Marathon October 11, 2009 in 4:13:09
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