COLUMBUS, Ohio — The 43rd annual Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus Marathon and Half Marathon brought 12,000 runners and walkers to downtown Columbus Sunday morning.
This year's competition was sold out, and as a result, more than $1 million was raised for the children's hospital. More than $13 million has been raised to support the work of the hospital since the partnership began in 2012.
“We had a sold-out field of 12,000 people run in the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus Marathon or 1/2 Marathon today. This underscores the huge support for this event and Nationwide Children’s Hospital,” said Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus Marathon & Half Marathon Race Director Darris Blackford. “Nationwide Children’s is a community treasure and it’s an honor for the Columbus Marathon to partner with them to raise life-saving dollars for the millions of children who are served by them each year."
Participants from 47 different states and 13 countries took part in the race, according to a release.
One mile was named the "Angel Mile," dedicated to the angels of Nationwide Children’s who have already run their race. Another mile was the "Encore Mile" dedicated to the Marathon Mile Champions from previous races.
Top finishers
Zach Kreft, of Sunbury, ended the marathon first with a time of 2:18:07. He narrowly missed the U.S. Olympic Trial Qualifying standard of 2:18:00 in what he said was his first-ever marathon.
"In college I was so focused on the 5K, 10K all that. Once I graduated, I knew that I would want to come out here and try to run this. I didn't think I'd be able to win it or run as fast as I did today but, hey, we'll take it," Kreft said. "Once you're out there, you're running for a lot more than just yourself."
Damaris Areba, of Kenya, was also a top finisher of the full marathon with a time of 2:34:38. The second place finisher, Shannon Smith, of Arizona, qualified for the Olympic trials with a time of 2:36:43."
"I wanted that time so badly and I just snuck under, so I get to go to Florida in February which is really cool. I'm a sister of two girls that have already qualified for the trials so it's special that we all have got to do that milestone," Smith said following the race.
For the half marathon, James Ngandu, of Kenya, won his fifth straight half marathon with a time of 1:03:27. Sarah Naibei, of Kenya, claimed the first spot in the half marathon for women with a time of 1:11:20.
For more information on the results of the race, visit columbusmarathon.com.
