After years of racers from outside the country dominating the Akron Marathon, a man from the United States has finally emerged victorious.
And he’s from Ohio.
And he broke a course record while he was at it.
Beneath sunny skies, Tony Migliozzi of North Canton was the first American-born male to win the Akron Marathon, in its 14th year, with a time of 2 hours, 21 minutes and 41 seconds.
This year’s marathon was part of the Akron Children’s Hospital Akron Marathon Race Series, which ended Saturday with the full and half-marathons and relay race.
The course record for the full marathon, which was set when the course was changed last year, was 2 hours, 22 minutes and 21 seconds, which Migliozzi broke by just 40 seconds.
“To be the first American male winner means a lot,” Migliozzi said.
His motivation to push to first was achieving that title, and setting a course record was just double the reward.
“I was just trying to win the race is all,” Migliozzi said.
The first-place female lives only a short distance away in Hilliard.
Becki Spellman placed first for women in this year’s marathon with a time of 2 hours, 51 minutes and 34 seconds.
This is her second win at the Akron Marathon. Spellman, born in Akron, also won the female division back in 2011, and then she came back to race the full marathon again in 2012 and the half from 2013 to 2015.
“This is home, and I love every chance I get to come up here,” Spellman said. “Today was the day for me.”
In a sea of nearly 13,000 racers, the reason the two winners and many others who placed are from Ohio may be because the rules for prize money and awards have changed this year.
For all divisions, prize money this year was awarded only to citizens of the U.S.
“They really want to build the sport in this country and build up U.S. runners,” said Alan Ashby, spokesman for the marathon.
Despite that, 40 states and six countries were represented in this year’s races.
Record breakers
In addition to Migliozzi’s records, two other racers attempted to set or break records — and they both succeeded.
Ron Legg, a 71-year-old from Beach City, set the record for the fastest 20k run by people 70 and older.
The previous record of 1 hour, 43 minutes and 57 seconds was set back in 1991.
Legg beat that by nearly 18 minutes, achieving a time of 1 hour, 26 minutes and 27 seconds.
“I feel great,” Legg said. “It was one of the easier half-marathons I’ve run as far as how I feel at the end.”
Helen McWilliams, on the other hand, had a more unique record she was cooking up.
McWilliams, a Cuyahoga Falls resident, apparently set the Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon run while dressed like a chef carrying a 6½-pound stockpot.
Quirky as it sounds, McWilliams’ record was attempted to raise awareness and money for the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank. She did just that at the Akron Marathon Health and Fitness Expo on Friday, where she raised more than $2,100 for the food bank.
“She always comes up with good ideas like this,” said her husband, Larry McWilliams. “I’m very proud of her and love her much.”
Though Helen McWilliams’ record isn’t official yet, she had a team of three fellow chef-racers who will verify she carried the pot the entire time to Guinness.
As the four of them crossed the finish line at 4 hours, 54 minutes and 49 seconds, just shy of the five-hour cap she was given by Guinness, McWilliams was near tears as she held the pot up with pride.
“The support I’ve gotten from the city and community is amazing,” McWilliams said. “I crossed that off the bucket list … it has been emotional the entire time.”
Hospital additions
Akron Children’s Hospital was this year’s new sponsor, adding several elements to the race. Among those were Children’s Champions, 12 racers who raised $1,000 to donate to the hospital.
The hospital also added 13 “hero zones” along the route. Company-sponsored tents were scattered across Akron and featured 24 “hero” children patients who were there cheering racers on.
Ashby said lots of racers stopped by the zones to chat with the kids, and many racers, including McWilliams, said the same.
“Seeing the children inspired me the whole route,” McWilliams said.
The Spicocchi quintets — Ellie, Enzo, Gia, Ilah and Paige — were at the starting line right at 7 a.m. to kick off the race by ringing the bell.
“It was honestly very emotional,” Amie Spicocchi, the quintets’ mom, said. “Just the energy and seeing the kids do something like this is just amazing.”
Spicocchi said it would’ve been hard to imagine them there six years ago when they were each born weighing less than 2 pounds.
Patients of Akron Children’s were dispersed at all the hero zones, including the zone at the hospital. There were even some patients there who weren’t designated heroes, but went to cheer racers on anyway, like Samantha Smith, 9, and her dad, Josh, of Akron.
“Watching all those guys dripping sweat is making me tired just looking at them,” said Samantha, who wore a cape with a monster on it while her dad wore one with a snowman. “I think it’s kind of cool, but who would want to do that? I can’t even run a mile.”
Meb Keflezighi, the 2004 Olympic silver medalist and winner of the 2009 New York City Marathon and the 2014 Boston Marathon, was at the Akron event to offer words of encouragement and congratulate winners as they crossed the finish line.
“It’s wonderful, it’s packed right now,” Keflezighi said at Canal Park.
Keflezighi, who was born in Eritrea in Africa and immigrated to the U.S. in 1987, received the 2016 Akron Marathon Ambassador Award.
Theresa Cottom can be reached at 330-996-3216 or tcottom@thebeaconjournal.com.