Gillette, Dalrymple victorious

CELINA - Justin Gillette and Laurissa Dalrymple had been the top male and female marathon runners together at a pair of events before Saturday.   

The two shared the spotlight again for a third time at the first annual Grand Lake Marathon.

Gillette was the top overall finisher at the event with a time of 2:40.41.1. The Goshen, Ind. native ran an average mile split of 6:08 to capture the 78th marathon victory of his career.

"I'm used to running in country or farm land, so I enjoyed it," Gillette said. "I ran with the guy who got second or third, one of the two, for the first 18 miles and it was kind of nice to have somebody to run with. It was faster than going out and running 26 miles by myself."

Gillette has competed in more than 150 marathons during his career, including the Boston Marathon. The race's top finisher said he didn't have a big celebration planned after winning the 26.2-mile race. Instead, he intended to treat Saturday like any other day.

"I'll just probably go home, take a shower and eat lunch," he explained. "I've got some trees I need to cut up. It's just a typical day. I'll work until probably 7 o'clock and then take another shower and watch the Notre Dame-Syracuse game."

Gillette, who runs roughly 85-100 miles a week, added that he intends on running the race again next year.

"I think I will (run it again)," he said. "It's really close to my in-laws. The Mayor (Jeff Hazel) shook my hand, so that was nice. It's a good race."

Matthew Schluneker, Columbus, placed second in a time of 2:43:52 and Jason Barhorst, Maineville, finished third (2:44:05.1). Rounding out the top five were Chris Ramsey, Savannah, Ga., with a time of 2:47:08 and Fort Recovery's Matthew Roessner (2:50:40.7).

Dalrymple, originally from Berne, Ind. and currently a resident of Minster with her husband and children, was the top female finisher in a time of 3:12.57.7 - an average mile pace of 7:22. She placed 11th overall.

"I didn't really know what to expect," said Dalrymple, who runs an average of 50 miles per week. "I kind of wasn't sure if I was going to run it because I felt like I might have been a little over-trained, like I would be tired. I have three little kids so I wasn't getting a ton of sleep and I was like 'Oh, I don't know if I'm going to be ready.' "

But she was.

Dalrymple, who said she has been best friends with Gillette's wife since third grade, is a marathon veteran, having set a personal best of 3:05 on three different occasions. Though she didn't break that barrier on Saturday, Dalrymple was more than happy to be the first female winner at the event, she said.

Finishing right behind Dalrymple in overall female standings were Angela Cheung, Middle Village, N.Y., (3:17:56.8), Alicia Osborn, Little Rock, Ark., (3:22:41), Fremont's Julie Dicesare (3:28:48.7) and Coldwater's Lynn Huwer (3:30:56).

Jessica Albers, originally from Minster, was the female champion in the half marathon, finishing with a time of 1:22:54.2 in her first half marathon competition. Her time was second best in the event behind former Coldwater distance runner Riley Kuess, who won the half in a time of 1:19:43.9.

"My first time was right under (1:23:00)," Albers said. "I just graduated from Xavier and ran cross country and track for them, so I decided to stay in shape. I thought this one would be fun to run because it was the first one, so I thought I'd try it out."

Ashley Lefeld, Coldwater's assistant cross country coach, was the second female to finish the half (1:30:37.7) and Fort Recovery's Christy Diller took third overall (1:35:41.4). Placing fourth was Pam Ranly, Tipp City, in a time of 1:35:41.8 and Beth Huwer, St. Henry, finished fifth (1:38:39.4).

Ben Gates, Sidney, placed second overall in the men's half (1:23:09.6) and Coldwater's Palngji Goshit finished third (1:23:37.9). The next two in were Norwood's John Fenton (1:25:45.9) and Ryan Griffin, Columbus, (1:26:53.4).

The overall 10K winner was Kettering's Dustin Sprague in a time of 32:21.2 - an average mile pace of 5:13. Right behind him in the men's division were Brian Zizelman (32:26.7) and Hunter Lynch, Concord, NC., (41:03.2). Delphos's Jordan Rode placed fourth overall (48:19.2) and Chad Rode, also of Delphos, finished fifth with an end result of 48:58.9.

The female 10K winner was Celina's Allison Bruns, who ran a time of 45:09.4 - more than a minute better than the rest of her competition. Norton's Katie Bilinski took runner-up (46:57.9) while New Albany's Teresa Meier placed third (51:23). Rounding out the top five were Abby Reier, Concord, NC., (52:16.5) and Dayton's Jill Campbell (52:50.3).

Coldwater's Logan Muhlenkamp was the 5K champion with a time of 18:49.6. A pair of Celina runners - Noah Shrock (18:52.4) and Ryan McDonaough (19:41.5) - took runner-up and bronze. Ethan Ly was fourth (21:28.7) and Celina's Dave Schrock, champion of the 50 to 54 division, placed fifth overall (22:20).

St. Marys' Natalie Wolfe was the female winner of the 5K with a time of 22:12.8. Jill Engel placed second (23:00.6), Amie Dworecki finished third (23:10.4), St. Marys' Cheryl Walter won the 45 to 49 division and took fourth overall (25:14.7) and Celina's Emma Hellwarth finished fifth (27:39.5).