Unseasonably warm temperatures prevented any course records on Saturday morning, but more than 3,200 runners and walkers braved the heat and humidity to finish the Mill Race Marathon, half-marathon and 5K.
Of those, 196 finished the full marathon, led by native Kenyan Julius Maisei and native Mexican Gisela Olalde, who ran to victories in their 26.2-mile journeys through Columbus.
The temperature was in the mid-60s when the marathon and half-marathon began at 7:30 a.m. By the time the top men’s runners finished just after 10 a.m., it was in the mid-70s. As the day wore on the temperature climbed into the 80s, with high humidity.
Maisei, who splits his time between Kenya and Toledo, Ohio, finished in 2 hours, 31 minutes, 37 seconds. His time was about 8 1/2 minutes off the course record of 2:23:08 set by Japhet Kipkoech in 2016 and about 3 1/2 minutes off last year’s winning time of 2:28:04 by Bryan Morseman.
But Maisei was thrilled with the victory.
“I am happy to win here today,” Maisei said. “There was no rain like I thought. The marathon was cool.”
Morseman, a two-time Mill Race Marathon winner from Bath, New York, ran with Maisei until about the 20-mile mark. Morseman, who began experiencing a side stitch a couple miles earlier, stopped for about a half-minute. He stopped again and vomited twice at about the 22-mile mark.
“At that point, I was just like, ‘I’ll run a 7-minute pace in and be OK,’” said Morseman, who finished second in 2:33:44. “It was a struggle. We were 5:40 to 6 (minutes) every mile, so that put us over that 2 1/2-hour mark.”
The women’s winner, Olalde, was more than 9 minutes faster than last year’s winning time. The Nashville, Tennessee, resident ran 2:55:55.
Olalde also won the Mill Race Marathon in 2015 before taking a three-year break from running.
“I’m trying to slowly gain fitness, and I knew this was a good indicator of where I am because I’ve been training for trail races, and my goal is the marathon,” Olalde said. “I was happy with the way that I did race and win. I think today was a little hot and humid.”
Elizabeth James of Wylie, Texas, was the second women’s finisher in 3:00:59.
Meanwhile, another Kenyan living in Toledo captured the half-marathon. Sammy Rotich covered the 13.1 miles in 1:07:25.
“I like running,” Rotich said. “This race is good, and I like to run here.”
Logan Barrett of Louisville placed second in 1:10:21, 8 seconds ahead of third-place finisher Jesse Davis of Indianapolis.
Amy Manning of Cincinnati was the top women’s half-marathon finisher in 1:23:33. Manning also won the Toledo Marathon and a half-marathon in Lexington, Kentucky, this year.
“It was hot (Saturday), so it wasn’t quite the time I was shooting for, but in the heat all bets are off,” Manning said. “But it’s cool to be able to win. It was fun out there. It’s a flat course, which is always nice, and it was kind of a nice test to my fitness at this point.”
Claudia Brinkruff of Greenfield was the second women’s finisher in 1:23:33. Laura Gilbert of Columbus was third in 1:30:33.
In the 5K men’s race, Northside Middle School girls cross-country coach Kyle Burton, a former runner at Columbus North and Eastern Kentucky University, ran to victory in 17:28.
“It’s fun,” Burton said. “I’m glad I get to show that team that I’m in shape, and I’m working hard out here today, too.”
One of Burton’s top runners at Northside, seventh-grader Sierra Newell, was the top female 5K finisher in 21:08.
“It wasn’t too hard,” Newell said. “It was nice and chill.”