After winning the Mill Race half-marathon last year when the full marathon was canceled, Will Cadwell wanted to come back to Columbus and give the full 26.2 miles a try.
So on a Saturday morning in which temperatures were a little cooler than last year, Cadwell ran to victory. The Covington, Kentucky, resident’s 2-hour, 29-minute, 41-second time was nearly 7½ minutes faster than runner-up Patrick Hasler of Cincinnati.
“I liked the race,” Cadwell said. “It’s a quick trip from Covington. It’s flat. I really enjoy the town and the course.”
Cadwell, a South Haven, Michigan, native who ran at University of Kentucky, “negative-split” the race, meaning he ran faster the second half than the first half. He ran the first 13.1 miles in around 1:16 and closed in 1:13 and change.
“I was happy with it,” Cadwell said. “I wanted to go a little slower at the start, but I just got to the start line with all the half marathoners, and got that pre-race excitement and that energy and went out a little faster than I should have. But I reeled it back around Mile 10 and tried to conserve some energy, and around Mile 16 to 18, I started picking it up, and I finished a lot faster than I started, so I’m happy with that.”
Meanwhile, Greenwood native Sarah Higgens, now of Los Angeles, was the women’s winner in 2:56:54. Aubrie White of Louisville was runner-up in 2:59:30.
“It was super fun,” Higgens said. “When I signed up last minute, I was like, ‘I’m just going to have fun today.’”
Higgens was the 2008 state cross-country champion for Center Grove High School. She ran at Azuza Pacific in Los Angeles and stayed in L.A. after college, although she now works remotely.
“I was back in town, and this year, I’m doing a race every month just for fun,” Higgens said. “So I saw this race, and I was like, ‘That sounds fun. I’ll check it out.’ This is an awesome race.”
John Mascari of Westfield won the half-marathon in 1:06:56.
“It’s good to get out here and compete,” Mascari said. “This is my first competitive race in over three years, so I’m just happy to get to the line healthy, excited and hungry. I was happy to come out with the win, but most of all, I was just happy to compete.”
Mascari, who ran at Terre Haute North High School and Indiana State University, had taken some time off from running at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I had some injuries, and I just took a mental break for a while when the pandemic started,” Mascari said. “I was like, ‘I think I’m going to get back into it,’ so the last year or so, I’ve been running on my own, just kind of getting the rhythm back.”
Caroline Cole of the Nashville suburb of Brentwood, Tennessee, was the women’s half-marathon winner. The former Trevecca Nazarene University runner won in 1:15:53.
“I went to Duluth, Minnesota, in June to run a half and got top six, so I felt really prepared for this race,” Cole said. “I have a big goal to do a full marathon, so this was kind of a training block to get a good half-marathon time. I just wanted to hold a six-minute pace and then start progressing the last five miles.”
Cole is friends with last year’s half-marathon winner, Hannah (Wittman) Preston, who is the daughter of Tony and Bonnie Wittman of Columbus.
“I know the Wittman family,” Cole said. “They live just a block away, and they said this is one of the best half-marathons, so I wanted to try it.”
Kyle Burton of Columbus, the boys cross-country and track coach at Northside Middle School, was the 5K winner in 16:49. Burton, who ran at Columbus North High School and Eastern Kentucky University, also won the 5K in 2019.
“This is the fastest 5K I’ve done since college,” Burton said. “I was pushing it. I think I opened a little too quick, and I felt it on the last mile, but I held up.”
Nicole Barocas of Indianapolis, who ran at Western High School and IUPUI, was the women’s 5K winner in 20:27.
“Honestly, I was pretty surprised because this 5K is more of a prep race for the (Indianapolis) Monumental (half marathon) this fall,” Barocas said. “When I was alone, it was so well marked, I didn’t actually need other people around. But overall, I felt like I gave it a good effort today. I’m proud of how I finished, and I’m excited to tell my coach how it went.”
