By: Sarah Irvin Clark
Event records set in men's half-marathon and hand cycle divisions; TweetMyTime successfully Tweeted 2,000 participant times; event record field of 15,000
COLUMBUS, Ohio - (October 18, 2009) - Despite nearly freezing temperatures at the 7:30am start on Sunday, the cool weather and sunny skies made for near-perfect running conditions for a sold-out field of 15,000 runners and walkers participating in the 30th Nationwide Better Health Columbus Marathon and Half-Marathon and Corporate Wellness 5K.
For the third year in a row, an Ohioan bested a field of 5,000 marathoners as Matt Folk of Perrysburg won the event in 2 hours, 20 minutes, 45 seconds. Second place went to Richard Kessio of Kenya in 2:20:50. Kessio was leading the race until Folk, 33, passed him in the final stretch of the race.
In the women's marathon race, Rachel Kinsman, 35, of Archbold, OH ran a dominating race to win in 2:47:44 and like Folk, she earned $2500. The runner-up was Maureen Bean Wrenn of Boulder, CO in 2:48:34.
A new course record was set in the 4th Nationwide Better Health Columbus Half-Marathon when Daniel Kipkoech of Kenya blasted a 1:03:38, besting the previous record of 1:04:10 set last year. Countryman Peter Matelong was second in 1:03:40, also under the old record.
On the women's side, Nicole Fisher of Indiana covered 13.1 miles in 1:17:14 to claim the first prize ($1000), while Marian Pyles of West Virginia finished second in 1:21:09.
In the hand cycling division, added last year, Dane Pilon of North Carolina blew away the field and set a course record in 1:12:15 (last year's top time was 1:37:16). Jeffrey Fisher of Medina placed first in the wheelchair division in 1:45:41.
TweetMyTime, the social media experiment that allowed participant's progress to be tweeted at various points along the course, successfully debuted at the Nationwide Better Health Columbus Marathon by sending out tweets for more than 2,000 participants who registered for the service.
The event record field of 15,000 marathon and half-marathon runners and walkers and 5K Corporate Wellness participants enjoyed great spectator support and more than 65 live bands and other entertainment along the course which includes parts of Columbus, Bexley, German Village, Short North, Upper Arlington, Grandview Heights and Victorian Village.
The 31st Nationwide Better Health Columbus Marathon and Half-Marathon will take place Sunday, October 17, 2010.
30th Nationwide Better Health Columbus Marathon
Columbus, OH, Sunday, October 18, 2009
MEN
1) Matt Folk (OH), 2:20:45, $2500
2) Richard Kessio (KEN), 2:20:50, $1000
3) Jeremy Zarins (OH), 2:23:28, $750
WOMEN
1) Rachel Kinsman (OH), 2:47:44, $2500
2) Maureen Bean Wrenn (CO), 2:48:34, $1000
3) Molly Watcke (OH), 2:49:50, $750
4th Nationwide Better Health Columbus Half-Marathon
MEN
1) Daniel Kipkoech (KEN), 1:03:38*, $1000
2) Peter Matelong (KEN), 1:03:40, $750
3) Emmanuel Korir (KEN), 1:04:56, $500
*course record (previous record, 1:04:10, Joseph Ngetich (KEN), 2008)
WOMEN
1) Nicole Fisher (IN), 1:17:14, $1000
2) Marian Pyles (WV), 1:21:09, $750
3) Tanya Thatcher (OH), 1:21:48
4) Leslie Kraus (OH), 1:22:13, $500
Complete results and more at: www.columbusmarathon.com.
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