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1 Comment [ View ]Marathon moments all add up
By STEPHANIE CHAMBERSOGDEN -- In one of the sweetest moments of the eighth annual Ogden Marathon, half marathon, marathon relay, 5K and Kids K on Saturday morning, the Bartmobile -- a modified wheelchair with Bart Kendrick inside, being pushed by Manuel Cyprus -- stopped just before the half marathon finish line and Kendrick stood up and walked across the line to wild cheering.
Kendrick has been confined to the wheelchair in the past year, and is only able to walk short distances. He and Cyprus had planned to do the full marathon together, but Cyprus was ill this week and with temperatures predicted to be in the upper 80s, they changed their plan to do the half. They completed the race in 3:09:14.3.
Other race moments:
Pippi Longstocking joined the throngs of runners racing down the canyon, and actually did well. Longstocking, otherwise known as Edward Jordan, used those bright red curled braids to lead the marathoners down the canyon. Jordan finished with a time of 2:58. At last year's race he ran with a fake "big butt" and large hat, and still won his age group.
Logan Fielding, the top men's finisher from Ogden, improved his time by 20 minutes from last year's race when he placed 21st. Fielding ran with a team of runners, Fastrunningblog.com (FRB), that took eight of the top 11 places in the marathon. Although they are from all over the state, the runners on the team train together by blogging about their training runs.
The women's race had the fastest top three finish ever with all top three women, Carre Joyce (3:00:06), Michelle Lowry (3:02:18), and Lorie Hutchinson (3:03:29), within three minutes of each other. Lowry is also a member of the FRB racing team. Amy Laughter was the top Ogden finisher, taking ninth overall with a 3:14:01.
In the first-ever Corporate Cup, it was Staker, Parson and Company's team of Kenny Delaney, Tyler Shepherd, and Kellie Shepherd that will get to display the Corporate Cup trophy this year. Their time of 3:01:27 beat out Neutraceutical's five-person team by seven minutes. Team Reach, with Ogden's own Mayor Matthew Godfrey, was fourth in the corporate relay at 3:17:20.
The half marathon, the popular event that sold out in April and had a waiting list 300-plus runners long, was won by Christina Gringas in 1:22:41. Top Ogden finishers were Missy Allred, third at 1:27:42, and Debbie Perry, fourth in 1:28:33.
Running celebrity Jeff Galloway and his wife Barbara were shooting for a 4:30, and they reached that goal, running a 4:29:02. Galloway said at the starting line that he has never seen such a beautiful mountain course and he plans to tell more people about it. This year, 15 percent of the runners registered were from out of state, that number promises to go up as more and more people learn about the course.
Registration for the ninth version of the popular event will open in October.
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who won the men's marathon race?
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