Abdi, O'Leary Take Wins in Ninth Alton Half-Marathon Run

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ALTON – Omar Abdi of St. Louis and Carolyn O’Leary of St. Peters, Mo., were the overall winners in the ninth annual Alton Half-Marathon Run, held on Saturday morning in the streets of Downtown Alton.

Abdi won the race with a time of 1:15:51, 51 seconds ahead of runner-up Jeremy Collins of O’Fallon, Mo., who came in at 1:16:42. Third place went to Nick Barron of St. Louis, whose time was 1:17:28, coming in fourth was St, Louis’ Adam Sullivan at 1:18:46 and rounding out the top five was Chris Bliss, also of St. Louis, with a time of 1:20:50.

O’Leary’s winning time in the women’s race was 1:27:09, beating out Carolyn Baird of St. Louis, with a time of 1:28:11. Monica Stump of Edwardsville finished third with a time of 1:37:31, Jessica Chiarodo of Benld was fourth at 1:38:10 and Katie Tebbe of Breese was fifth, coming in at 1:40:30.

Barb Horstman, a spokesperson for the race, said: "What a beautiful day for a race! Thank you to all the runners who came out today. Thank you to all our volunteers, the Alton Police Department, the ambulance crew of Alton Memorial Hospital, and the City of Alton. Thank you to all of our sponsors especially the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. We couldn't do this without all of you. We can't wait to see you next year for our 10th year.”

In the men’s age groups, Jake Graham of St. Louis was the 15-19 winner with a time of 1:44:47, Richard Roberts of Alton took the 20-24 group, coming in at 1:27:27, Aaron De La Cruz of Belleville won the 25-29 group at 1:31:29, Bliss won the 30-34 age group, Sullivan took the 35-39 classification, Mark Thompson of Jerseyville won the 40-44 group with a time of 1:32:05, the 45-49 winner was Keith Virden of Springfield, with a time of 1:33:31, Blake Scranton, also of Springfield, won the 50-54 group at 1:31:43, the 55-59 winner was John James of Troy, who came in at 1:36:10, Robert Harrison of St. Charles, Mo., won the 60-64 group with a time of 1:38:40, taking the 65-69 age group was William Brummond of Chesterfield, Mo., at 1:56:05 and Robert Meister of Johns Island, S.C. won the 70-and-over group at 2:15:47.

Over in the women’s age groups, Alton’s Caroline Claywell took the 20-24 group with a time of 1:48:52, Tebbe was the winner in the 25-29 category, Jessica Chiarodo of Benld won the 30-34 group at 1:38:10, the 35-39 group winner was Melissa Gaghan with a time of 1:48:50, O’Fallon’s Tina Stiles won the 40=44 group at 1:43:26, Faith Liebl of Edwardsville took the 45-49 group, coming in at 1:57:48, Tori Hamill of O’Fallon, Mo., was the 50-54 winner with a time of 1:51:58, while Eva Neavelle of St, Louis won the 55-59 category at 1:51:47, Donna Vernaci of St. Louis took the 60-64 winner at 2:08:17, Seri Boettcher of Tuscon, Ariz., was the 65-69 winner at 2:59:53 and the 70-and-over winner was Nancy Brown of Foristell, Mo., with a time of 2:33:53.

In the corresponding 5,000-meter race, the men’s winner was Enrique Rangel of Virginia, Ill., with a time of 19:36, while Godfrey’s Victor Humphrey was the runner-up in 20:32, the third place winner was Cooper Wittek of Edwardsville, coming in at 21:29, coming in fourth was Alan Hoyt of St. Louis, with a time of 22:47, and the fifth-place runner was Scott Schuyler of Godfrey at 22:51.

Lisa Cary of Eureka, Mo., was the overall women’s winner with a time of 20:12, with the runner-up being Angela Reckelhoff-Mueller of Troy, coming in at 20:48, Megan Clark of Greenfield was third at 23:54, the fourth-place finisher was Margaret Dublo of Grafton at 26:17, and finishing fifth was Maggie Miller of Prairie Village, Kan., with a time of 26:28.

In the men’s age groups, Sam Wittek of Edwardsville took the 19-and-under category with a time of 23:38, Douglas Schrank of Springfield, Mo., was the winner of the 20-29 group, coming in at 26:29, Hoyt won the 30-39 age group, Nathan Wilson of Bethalto took the 40-49 group with a time of 23:47, Schuyler was the winner of the 50-59 category, and the 60-and-over winner was Godfrey’s Bill Ames at 30:56.

In the women’s groupings, Hailey Cortinas of Mascoutah took the 19-and-under category with a time of 26:59, Miller was the winner of the 20=29 category, Dublo won the 30-39 age group, the 40-49 winner was Jennifer Belchik of Godfrey, with a time of 33:14, Alton’s Patricia Guilliams won the 50-59 category, coming in at 33:14 and the 60-and-over winner was Kathy Claywell of Alton, also coming in at 33:14.

Colin Feeney also contributed to this story.

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