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James Mount, 41, Blue Ash, receives his medal after winning the 2023 Grand Lake Half Marathon with a time of 1:17:35 on Saturday morning.
CELINA - James Mount won the 2023 Grand Lake half-marathon Saturday, crossing the line in 1:17.35.
Mount, 41, from Blue Ash near Cincinnati, had never run the course along the north shore of Grand Lake but was searching for a half-marathon around the end of September as he trains for the New York City marathon on Nov. 5.
"The timing was right, and the course looked awesome," he said. "Along the lake, everything's beautiful."
Mount, running his ninth half-marathon, was a little less than seven minutes behind the course record and about one minute behind his personal best. He took an early lead and was running by himself for much of the race.
"I like running around on my own, just being able to focus on myself," he said. "That's exactly what I pictured being able to run today. My best time was four years ago - so I'm getting a little bit older, that's fine."
In his first time running along Grand Lake, Mount said that the course was nearly ideal, being flat, mostly straight and having fans along the route.
"I would definitely come back to this one," he said. "I'm going to tell people in Cincinnati about this, see if we can get some people up here. It's a fast course, first day of fall, decent weather."
This is Mount's final race before the New York marathon. He said he plans to rest for a week or so before building up miles again heading into the marathon.
While Mount enjoyed the relatively straight course running behind the pace bike, second-place finisher David Adamitis, 22, of Lakeside Park, Kentucky, was less fortunate. Instead of turning onto Lake Shore Drive for the closing stretch, he kept going along Market Street and came around from the wrong direction.
"It says road closed back there, and there's not really anyone there to direct you," he said. "I was by myself, so I was like, 'I don't want to try to go the wrong way. I'm going to go what I think is the right way.' Added an extra .4 (miles) to the course."
The mishap didn't cost Adamitis too dearly. He still came in second and still set a personal best with a time of 1:23.07.
Adamitis, who was also running the course for the first time, said this race was his goal. Going forward, he intends to do a cross-country 8K in a few weeks and then look for another half-marathon.
"I was a runner, ran in college the last four years, just graduated," he said. "Kind of miss it. Trying to get back into it."
Lima's Philip Kallenberg was third, followed by Alan Zobler of Toledo and Jeff Vondrell of Celina.
Cassandra Bruley, 32, Rawson, was the first female to cross the finish line and 6th overall with a time of 1:29:26.
Cassandra Bruley was the top woman and sixth overall, running a time of 1:29.26. Bruley, 32, of Canton, also ran the course for the first time, saying it sounded picturesque based on the description online.
Bruley said she's slowly gotten back into running after she hurt her knee during residency as a physical therapist in Cleveland, and that she had done almost no distance training to prepare.
"I run daily, but about six miles or so," she said. "I was just trying to get a feel for what the distance would feel like, and I was actually very surprised with how comfortable I felt. I'm very happy with it. Fun course, too, and the weather is beautiful."
Bruley's goal is to work up to a 30K trail race in November.
Anthony Hayes, 27, of Galena won the 5K in 20:09.2, setting his personal best. Hayes said when he's not running, he volunteers as a timer with parkrun, a company that puts on free 5Ks on Saturdays in state parks. He's also preparing for a half-marathon in two weeks.
"This was a nice free speed check," he joked.
In second place by 36 seconds was his 24-year-old brother, Johnathan Hayes. Last year, Johnathan won the 5K in 21:07.3, with Anthony 26 seconds behind in fourth.
Grady Kremer, 10, of Coldwater won the one-mile Kids Run, crossing the finish line in 6:35.
A number of runners and fans wore pink shirts to honor Jersey Poff, an 11-year-old girl from St. Marys who died Sept. 3. Rod Carpenter, a Celina native, ran the race as a tribute to Poff, carrying an American flag and raising money for the St. Marys All-Abilities Park.
Race director Ryan King said there were about 375 registered runners, similar to last year's numbers, with the majority from Ohio but some coming from as far away as Utah.
Now in its second year as a fixed route rather than switching directions, King said that the logistics were smoother with the east to west route.
"It works the best for a couple different setups," he said. "Both the way we do the finish line and the start line, as well as the traffic flow. It's just hard for us to switch at this point."
Jordayn Jargstorf, Indianapolis, Indiana, shows off her ring after being proposed to at the finish line by her new fiance Zach Johnson, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Amy Brandt, 55, Versailles, jogs toward the finish line along Lake Shore Drive.
A large pack of runners begin their 13.2 mile trek to Celina.
Stephen Sartoris, Dayton, pushes his daughter along as he begins the Grand Lake Half Marathon on Saturday morning in St. Marys.
Ryan Steinbrunner, 32, Celina, grabs his daughter just before crossing the finish line.
