Runners from all over the world engaged in a rainy competition Saturday for the 17th annual U.S. Air Force Marathon, hosted by Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
The marathon’s participants had the option of competing in the 10K, the half-marathon and the full marathon, as well as a wheeled division. The 5K race planned for Friday, Sept. 20 was cancelled due to inclement weather conditions.
The 5K race participants did not go home empty-handed, however, as they crowded onto the Nutter Center floor and received participation medals passed out by U.S. Air Force soldiers.
“Everybody’s all jazzed up to run, but quite frankly the weather and safety situation just isn’t worth it,” said Lt. General Busch as he handed out the medals. “I think they made a good call to cancel the race.”
In addition to the 15,000 runners who started their races at WPAFB, over 2,500 runners participated from eight deployed locations around the world.
On Saturday morning, runners began taking off for the full marathon and 10K races at 7:30 a.m.
Results
- The winner of the men’s full marathon this year was James Beyer, a 46-year-old from Dayton, Ohio, who completed the marathon in 2:35:47.
- The men’s active military winner was Joseph Czabaranek, 28, from Shalimar, Fla. who clocked in at 2:41:56.
- The winner of the women’s full marathon was Michelle Farr, 40, of Medina, Ohio with a time of 3:04:44.
- The women’s active military winner was Sarah Auer, 23, of Colorado Springs, Colo.
