Gillette wins again; Cousins wins women's division

CELINA - Last year, Justin Gillette crossed the finish line at the inaugural Grand Lake Marathon well ahead of everyone else and had barely broken a sweat.

It was a similar scene for the veteran marathoner at Saturday's marathon.

Gillette completed the event in a time of 2:43:12.8 to repeat as overall champion. The 32-year old from Goshen, Ind. had won in 2014 with a time of 2:40:43.1, and it's a streak Gillette says he hopes to continue next year.

"It's a really good race," Gillette complimented. "Celina is probably one of the smaller towns to host a race like this. I mean, I think there was like 1,000 people here today.

"I thought the wind was going to help me more than it did, but I think it kind of shifted gears on us during the last 4-5 miles, because we had the wind in our face."

The wind, however, didn't stop him from completing the race more 13 minutes faster than any other racer. Jonathan Bade, of Troy, placed second in a time 2:56:13.9 and Jason Barhorst, of Maineville, was third (3:00:10.6). Coldwater's Steven Wenning (3:04:11.5) and Celina's Kyle Minnich (3:09:29.3) also earned top-10 finishes.

After winning last year's race, Gillette went home and split wood. His celebratory plan on Saturday was a trip to Cincinnati with his father-in-law to visit friends.

Gillette has run marathons all across the country and plans to run one in Pennsylvania next weekend. Gillette said he really enjoys the venue and intends on running it every year.

"It's a really well-organized race," he added. "There were a lot more bands out there this year, a lot more volunteers, a lot more spectators. It's just going to grow."

Thirty-six-year-old Julie Cousins, of Oxford, came-from-behind to win her first Grand Lake marathon female title in a time of 3:23:33.1.

"It feels pretty good," said Cousins, who originally hails from Norwood Young America, Minn. "I've never won a road marathon before, so it's kind of exciting."

Cousins, an instructor of kinesiology and health at Miami University, ran her fastest time split over the final stages of the race and held off Roberta Meyer for the title. Cousins was informed she was nearly a minute behind Meyer at mile 20 but she found an extra gear and went for it.

"I worked hard that last six miles, and then I caught up with her and she was like 'No!' Then she took off," Cousins said with a laugh. "I just sat back, and when we hit (mile) 26, I told myself to just go as hard as I can, and I did. I felt like I left it on the course."

Meyer, of Shepherdsville, Ky. earned runner-up honors with a 3:23:53.9 and Julie Dicesare, of Fremont, placed third in a time of 3:28:06.

The second overall participant to cross the finish line was wheelchair division winner Lindsey McGlinch, of Greenville, who turned in an impressive time of 2:51:24.9.

The men's title winner in the half marathon belonged to Celina's Mitch Williams with a result of 1:21:36.4. The female division winner was Kristina Zahniser, of Dublin, who clocked in at 1:34:02.5.

New Bremen's Cassandra Boyle was the overall winner in the 5K with a time of 19:04.7. The men's gold went to Jakob McClain with a result of 19:31.7.

The full marathon relay title team was composed of Leann Topp, Lori Timmerman, Stacy Timmerman and Rebecca Niekamp, who combined for a time of 3:57:04.6.

The winning team in the half marathon relay featured Cyrus Green and Eric Lin.

The kids marathon last mile winners were Rockford's Alexis Berry in the female division and Coldwater's Owen Lefeld in the male division.