Several hundred runners from the Lakeshore and around the country participated in the 9th Annual HFM Maritime Marathon yesterday (June 13th).
Runners began at the UW-Green Bay Manitowoc Campus and were treated to scenic views of Lake Michigan to Port Sandy Bay in Two Rivers then back to Manitowoc under nearly ideal conditions.
Robert St. Clair of Mundelein, Illinois was the top male finisher and overall winner with a time of 2 hours 47 minutes, and 10 seconds. St. Clair said he typically likes to push his pace toward the end of shorter races, but for this race, he “had a goal pace I wanted to go for today so I was trying to stick with that and I just had to hold on to win.”
Cecelia Zielke of Kohler was the top female finisher and placed seventh overall running the 26.2-mile course in a time of 3:07:49. She voiced concern over the weather, but said it “turned out to be an ideal day.”
St. Clair and Zielke have qualified for next year’s Boston Marathon by virtue of their victories yesterday. Ironically, both attend Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and have become best of friends.
Matt Kasten of Harrison, Wisconsin, won the half marathon posting a time of 1:13:12, while Kory Wiegert of Mishicot was the top local finisher and placed third overall with a time of 1:22:57.
The top female finisher for the area was Sophie Bolich of Plymouth running the 13-mile course in a time of 1:29:43 placing seventh overall.
Race Director Dave Nickels says it was great to be back after missing last year due to the pandemic.
“We didn’t have all the amenities we always have but didn’t receive any complaints. They wanted to come out and run,” Nickels explained. “There aren’t many opportunities out there right now and we gave them one. It turned out really well.”
