Men's winner says Blue Ridge Marathon lived up to the hype

Not even an hour into the Blue Ridge Marathon, Jeff Powers got some encouragement while running up the brutal climb to the peak of Roanoke Mountain.

Fellow racer Abu Diriba was urging him to pick up the pace.

Powers, from Philadelphia, stayed conservative.

“Those are the people,” Powers said of runners who get too eager too early, “that I usually pass at the end.”

And that’s what happened.

Powers slipped by Diriba in the last 2 miles, winning in a course record 2:39:48.

Diriba, a 25-year-old who lives in Annandale, held on for second in 2:41:21.

Tim Sykes, 32, winner of the inaugural Blue Ridge Marathon in 2010, was third in 2:48:07

In the women’s race, Heather Wesolovski of Astoria, N.Y., won in 3:24:25.

Natalie St. John, a freshman at Virginia Tech, was second in 3:34:33, and Roanoke’s Christy Lange was third in 3:37.18.

Bradley Adams of Knoxville took the half marathon title in a course-record 1:20:26, while Roanoke’s Sarah Glenn won the race for the third consecutive year, clocking 1:29:23 to chop 24 seconds off the course record she set last year.

The nearly 1,700 runners participating in the half and full marathons, and the full marathon relay, had the benefit of good racing conditions.

Temperatures were in the mid-40s when the starting gun fired at 7:35 a.m. and the mass of runners headed up Jefferson Street on a gradual climb that would pale to those they faced later.

Temperatures remained comfortably cool throughout the day. Still, the steep climbs and descents beat up the runners’ legs.

“This was tough,” said Powers, a 30-year-old Ph.D. student at Temple University. “It lived up to the hype.”

Powers is no stranger to mountains, growing up in Abingdon. But the 2001 Abingdon High School grad played mostly football and soccer back then.

He ran his first marathon in 2003, and has done a dozen since. He’s also done two ultra-marathons.

Seeking appropriate training in Philadelphia, Powers found a city street that featured a difficult climb a little more than a half-mile long.

“Sometimes I’d run it 12 times,” he said.

When he passed Diriba, the slight native of Ethiopia couldn’t respond.

“I normally run half marathons,” Diriba said. “This was my first marathon.

“It was very difficult and very cold.”

Like Powers, Wesolovski struggled to find good training ground at home.

“I do some treadmill workouts with steep inclines,” said Wesolovski, running in her seventh marathon. “It is so boring.”

An administrative assistant at a private equity firm, she also has completed two ultra marathons.

“We have friends who live here who thought they would bait us with a marathon,” said Wesolovski, who traveled to Roanoke with fiance Kevin Lutz, who was third overall in the half-marathon. “It worked.”

After passing St. John late in the race Wesolovski thought she was in the lead.

“But people kept telling me I was in second,” she said. “I hadn’t seen anybody else but I was like, ‘OK, good for her.’ ”

In fact Wesolovski was behind only a women’s relay team.

Roanoke’s Shannon Summerlin ran the relay team’s final leg, and as Summerlin approached the line the crowd began to cheer wildly.

Summerlin shook her head and waved her hands to signal, “I’m not the winner,” and deftly limboed under the finishing tape.

Wesolovski broke the tape four minutes later.

Many runners, their community galvanized this week by the bombings at the Boston Marathon on Monday, paid respect to Boston.

Hundreds wore blue bracelets emblazoned with the phrase, “Running for Boston.”

Many wore Boston Marathon shirts and jackets, some from this year’s race, while others wore Red Sox caps.

A number of runners put their hands on their hearts and pointed skyward crossing the line.

Sykes said he found strength in remembering Boston.

“I was feeling tired the last 10K,” said Sykes, an assistant professor at UVa-Wise. “But I was thinking about all the people of Boston and I thought, ‘I’m not really that tired.’

“I’m blessed to be out here.”

As usual the race featured a vast array of runners, from the rail-thin speedsters to hundreds of recreational runners whose primary goal was to simply complete the race.

Karen King of Midlothian crossed the line in 5:20 and change and promptly gave the course its due.

“This was way harder than the Charlottesville marathon,” said King, who is 57 and started running just a few years ago.

Her brother, 46-year-old Michael Pulley, helped inspire her.

“He started running when he was 40, and he wanted to run 50 miles by the time he turned 50,” King said. “Today was number 63 for him.”

Pulley didn’t win an award, but he deserved one for defying the laws of physics.

Pulley weighs 270 pounds and still was able to finish the race in 4:10, a tremendous feat given the roughly 3,800 feet of elevation gain runners faced.

Of all of his marathons, the Blue Ridge race stands out, he said.

“It’s the hardest road marathon in the country,” said Pulley, a former small college football player who weighed 310 pounds before he started running. “Without a doubt.”

St. John, at 18 running her first marathon, said the enthusiastic crowd helped keep her inspired.

“It was an amazing experience,” she said. “All the runners, the volunteers and their encouragement was amazing.”

It was such an amazing experience that some runners wanted more of it.

Kevin Green was one of 18 runners who ran the course early, starting at 2:30 a.m.

The group was finished by the time the official race started, and went back onto the course.

“I wasn’t in shape and I feel horrible,” Green admitted after completing the double marathon. “I walked most of the second one.”

“But I’ll be back.”

MARATHON RESULTS (26.2 miles)

MEN

OVERALL - 1. Jeff Powers, 30, Philadelphia, 2 hours 39 minutes, 48 seconds; 2. Abu Diriba, 25, Annandale, 2:41:20; 3. Tim Sykes, 32, Wise, 2:48:07.

MASTERS - 1. Robert Wolfe, 41, Washington, D.C., 2:54:26; 2. Joey Turner, 43, Pembroke, 3:19:33; 3. David Jacobs, 46, Salem, 3:27:46.

10-19 - 1. Benjamin Houldridge, 19, Buena Vista, 3:23:08; 2. Josh Oswald, 18, Forest, 4:03:40; 3. Tres McNeil, 18, Hickory, N.C., 4:21:39.

20-24 - 1. Pat Casterline, 22, Scranton, Pa., 2:50:18; 2. Ian Robinson, 24, Richmond, 3:10:09; 3. Andrew Smith, 20, Roanoke, 3:26:13.

25-29 - 1. David Hryvniak, 28, Charlottesville, 2:48:52; 2. Ryan Paavola, Richmond, 3:00:43; 3. Kevin Lane, 28, Marshall, N.C., 3:02:34.

30-34 - 1. Nick Whited, 34, Bluefield, Va., 2:57:52; 2. Andrew Mitcheltree, Greensboro, N.C., 3:08:21; 3. Kyle Lewis, 32, Roanoke, 3:16:36.

35-39 - 1. Karsten Brown, 38, Front Royal, 3:13:42; 2. Matthew Babcock, 36, Troutville, 3:13:54; 3. Gregory King, 37, Bedford, 3:14:27.

40-44 - 1. Paul Harris, 41, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, 3:29:34; 2. Seth Jayson, 43, Annandale, 3:33:44; 3. Richard Thomas, 43, Lusby, Md., 3:50:43.

45-49 - 1. Paul Smith, 42, Storrs, Conn., 3:41:42; 2. Mark Hughes, 45, Salem, 3:45:38; 3. Jeff Olive, 45, Atlanta, 3:47:25.

50-54 - 1. John Robinson, 54, Roanoke, 3:34:05; 2. Jake Huffman, 51, Roanoke, 3:40:30; 3. Mike Florek, Hastings, Neb., 3:42:34.

55-59 - 1. Bruce Kesserling, 58, Springfield, 3:33:42, 2. David Feron, 55, Roanoke, 3:54:27; 3. Charles Robbins, 55, Roanoke, 3:59:38.

60-64 - 1. Mark Whisler, 62, Salem, 3:43:21; 2. Bogdan Kulik, 64, Kincardine, Ontario, Canada, 4:29:52; 3. David Boyd, 60, Roanoke, 4:55:41.

65-69 - 1. Danny Keatley, 66, White Sulphur Spring, W.Va., 4:28:25; 2. Joe Sinclair, 66, Statesville, N.C., 5:14:01.

70-99 - 1. David Hurley, 71, Roanoke, 5:16:07; 2. Les Martin, 72, San Francisco, 5:26:11; 3. Rod Vahle, 70, Philadelphia, 5:46:39.

WOMEN

OVERALL - 1. Healther Wesolovski, 30, Astoria, N.Y., 3:23:44; 2. Natalie St. John, 18, Mendham, N.J., 3:34:22; 3. Christy Lange, 38, Roanoke, 3:35:19.

MASTERS - 1. Grandison Burnside, 41, Henrico, 4:04:56; 2. Annette Green, 47, Martinsville, 4:10:45; 3. Jennifer Burch, 40, Virginia Beach, 4:15:53.

10-19 - 1. Mary Deis, 19, Forest, 4:11:48.

20-24 - 1. Caroline Pilgrim, 23, Orlando, Fla., 4:01:32; 2. Gabrielle Carbonara, 24, Morgantown, W.Va., 4:12:09; 3. Kaki Comer, 20, Roanoke, 4:43:51.

25-29 - 1. Erin Straight, 26, Roanoke, 3:51:43, 2. Corinne Makarewich, 29, Grottoes, 3:55:12; 3. Nicole Fahrenfeld, 29, Blacksburg, 4:12:37.

30-34 - 1. Jenny Wilkes, 30, Little Rock, Ark., 3:50:00; 2. Shannon Moriarty, 30, New York, 4:01:34; 3. Lauren Brown, 33, Roanoke, 4:02:07.

35-39 - 1. Kimberly Parker, 38, Roanoke, 3:39:34; 2. Megan Hamilton, 36, Ridgeley, W.Va., 4:04:08; 3. Amy Zembroski, 35, Muskego, Wis., 4:08:42.

40-44 - 1. Shelby Bingham, 44, Roanoke, 4:24:25; 2. Prissie Nguyen, 40, Richmond, 4:24:37; 3. Kris Watson, 41, Richmond, 4:32:05.

45-49 - 1. Lori Callahan, 48, Salem, 4:21:43; 2. Jane Harding, 49, Roanoke, 4:29:35; 3. Tracey Minnix, 46, Roanoke, 4:47:32.

50-54 - 1. Janet Omalley, 53, Southwest Ranches, Fla., 4:23:55; 2. Jill Pollock, 50, Hilliard, Ohio, 4:32:19; 3. Dawn Weeks, 54, Floyd, 4:38:12.

55-59 - 1. Kathy Headlee, 5, Manakin-Sabot, 4:42:27; 2. Karen King, 59, Midlothian, 5:20:14; 3. Anne Karoly, 57, Alexandria, 5:25:08.

60-64 - 1. Leslie Hale, 60, Houston, 4:49:30; 2. Therese Willis, 60, Richmond, 5:04:57.

HALF MARATHON RESULTS (13.1 miles)

Men

OVERALL - 1. Bradley Adams, 35, Knoxville, Tenn., 1:20:06; 2. Edward Dickinson, 49, Roanoke, 1:20:45; 3. Kevin Lutz, 29, Astoria, N.Y., 1:25:43.

MASTERS - 1. HT Page, 52, Wirtz, 1:27:52; 2. Ed Shepherd, 41, Salem, 1:31:25; 3. Samuel Cox, 54, Roanoke, 1:31:32.

10-19 - 1. Dylan Turner, 19, Abingdon, 1:26:48; 2. Andrew Grider, 15, Roanoke, 1:34:34; 3. Will Leigh, 18, Abingdon, 1:34:52.

20-24 - 1. Zachary Smith, 22, Goode, 1:33:47; 2. James Kirrane, 21, Blacksburg, 1:40:19; 3. Seth Ally, 23, Roanoke, 1:40:21.

25-29 - 1. Geffrey Moy, 29, Blacksburg, 1:28:19; 2. Phil Reusswig, 29, Cambridge, Mass., 1:38:33; 3. Arndt Andrew, 29, Minneapolis, 1:38:33.

30-34 - 1. Chris Owens, 31, Roanoke, 1:33:18; 2. Eric Fonville, 34, Roanoke, 1:34:44; 3. Dan Hylton, 34, Weyers Cave, 1:36:54.

35-39 - 1. Christopher Coles, 36, Roanoke, 1:29:05; 2. David Tingler, 38, Salem, 1:30:15; 3. Carmen Dunford, 39, Radford, 1:37:05.

40-44 - 1. Bill Vickery, 43, Bedford, 1:33:19; 2. Jeremy Allen, 41, Centennial, Colo., 1:38:00; 3. Philip Settle, 41, Blue Ridge, 1:41:53.

45-49 - 1. Bruce Christensen, 45, Bolton, Conn., 1:32:42; 2. Scott Moir, 49, Roanoke, 1:3:48; 3. Russ Ellett, 46, Roanoke, 1:35:39.

50-54 - 1. Michael Dalsey, 51, Roanoke, 1:36:25; 2. Kevin Shroyer, 52, Goode, 1:41:50; 3. Alan Reed, 54, Auburn, Ala., 1:45:34.

55-59 - 1. Mark Long, 57, Roanoke, 1:36:54; 2. Roger Koehler, 58, Lexington, 1:38:17; 3. Steve Cates, 57, Roanoke, 1:47:27.

60-64 - 1. Walter Allen, 64, Lynchburg, 1:49:47; 2. Ron Hatley, 63, Charlotte, N.C., 2:11:56. 3. Joseph Salmon, 60, Roanoke, 2:15:10.

65-69 - 1. Ed Allen, 65, Troutville, 2:00:26; 2. Shelby Dickerson, 66, Roanoke, 2:01:50; 3. Jon Wilson, 67, St. Petersburg, Fla., 2:06:37.

70-99 - 1. Harold Ingram, 70, Henry, 1:58:59; 2. Bobby Spencer, 70, Daleville, 2:10:15; 3. Ray Gilbarte, 74, Wirtz, 3:35:45.

WOMEN

OVERALL - 1. Sarah Glenn, 37, Roanoke, 1:29:17; 2. Gretchen McDonough, 26, Lewisburg, W.Va., 1:29:36; 3. Rachel Taylor, 22, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 1:31:54.

MASTERS - 1. Tamara Stoops, 42, Staunton, 1:47:44; 2. Nancy Labiner, 43, Brooklyn, N.Y., 1:49:06; 3. Katherine Ericsson, 46, Roanoke, 1:52:45.

10-19 - 1. Seema Tailor, 18, Roanoke, 1:41:43; 2. Mirenda Gwin, 19, Charlottesville, 1:47:41; 3. Ashley Scherbenske, 19, Chantilly, 1:52:03.

20-24 - 1. Kaitlyn Poff, 20, Huntersville, N.C., 1:36:00; 2. Elizabeth Blair, 23, Boston, 1:41:50; 3. Nicole Nahoolewa, 20, Buena Vista, 1:43:29.

25-29 - 1. Cheryl Miller, 29, Chapel Hill, N.C., 1:41:56; 2. Hannah Neagle, 27, Washington D.C., 1:46:32; 3. Jessica Shell, 28, Roanoke, 1:47:47.

30-34 - 1. Kristin Herring, 34, Newport News, 1:39:00; 2. Martha Dunn-McCue, 32, Centreville, 1:51:58; 3. Caroline Ellison, 30, Roanoke, 1:52:38.

35-39 - 1. Erica Ramsberger, 36, Moneta, 1:49:22; 2. Carrie Magoulas, 36, Roanoke, 1:49:39; 3. Becky Norton, 36, Blacksburg, 1:53:11.

40-44 - 1. Janet Uhde, 44, Roanoke, 1:53:17; 2. Teke Abshire, 41, Roanoke, 1:53:28; 3. Rachel Barhoum, 43, Roanoke, 1:54:34.

45-49 - 1. Liz Futrell, 47, Roanoke, 1:53:05; 2. Linda Vick, 49, Blacksburg, 1:59:51; 3. Cindy Fallon, 47, Roanoke, 2:01:55.

50-54 - 1. Susan Leivy, 53, Roanoke, 1:54:34; 2. Mary O'Donoghue, 53, Rocky Mount, 2:00:33; 3. Katherin Lee, 52, Columbia, MO, 2:00:49.

55-59 - 1. Layne Ferguson, 55, Moneta, 2:02:24; 2. Trina Nicholson, 58, Blue Ridge, 2:08:25; 3. Debby Winters, 56, Fayetteville, Ark., 2:19:14.

60-64 - 1. Lynn McAteer, 61, Richmond, 2:08:47; 2. Patricia Steahly, 60, Vinton, 2:10:46; 3. Deborah Allen, 63, Lynchburg, 2:13:51.

65-69 - 1. Stevie Long, 65, Roanoke, 2:19:20; 2. Brenda Gray, 66, Lynchburg, 2:44:20; 3. Sarah Brabham, 65, Goodview, 3:08:27.

70-99 - 1. Peggy Stancil, 70, Roanoke, 3:04:44; 2. James Gray, 72, New Castle, 3:08:27.

RELAY

Men - 1. Team Jonesdog + 2, 3:05:31; 2. Supporting the Veterans, 3:13:42; 3. Cobras, 3:25:37.

Women - 1. Lab Sports Ladies, 3:20:21; 2. Fabulous Five, 3:53:23; 3. Scrambled Legs, 3:53:50.

Mixed division - 1. Team 19K, 3:41:55; 2. Crazy Canadians, 3:46:42; 3. Team Land O'Lakes, 3:46:49.

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