Getachew Asfaw wins Akron Marathon in record time

AKRON, Ohio – Getachew Asfaw of Ethiopia set a course record Saturday in winning the 11th annual Akron Marathon.

Asfaw, 24, who trains in Silver Springs, Md., covered the 26.2-mile course around downtown Akron in 2 hours, 15 minutes, 59 seconds, smashing the record by nearly three minutes, but just managing to hold off Joseph Mutinda of Santa Fe, New Mexico, who finished in 2:16.02. George Towett of Hebron, Ky., was third in 2:17.6. Richard Kessio of Toledo was the top Ohio finisher in 2:22.30.

Ludmila Stepanova, 30, of Hebron, Ky. easily won the women’s marathon in 2:39:18. Hirut Guangul of New York was second in 2:42:35, followed by three local runners – Shanna Ailes Istnick of Kent in 2:53.30, Katie Kay of Fairview Park in 3:02:20, and Tracy Meder of Stow in 3:03:20.

Jessica Odorcic, 32, of Madison won the women’s half marathon in 1:14:22 and her time qualified her for the U.S. Olympic full marathon trials. Becki Spellman of Akron was second in 1:18:34. Ryan Kienzle of Canton won the men’s half marathon in 1:05:38 over David Petrak of Cuyahoga Falls (1:08:13).

The race was sold out for the second straight year and had 15,000 participants. Complete results are available at akronmarathon.org.

Source: cleveland.com