FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Rain Can't Slow Down Second Annual Fox Valley Marathon
The constant drizzle wasn't enough to drown runner's spirits in St.
Charles Sunday. In fact, most of the participants in the Advocate Dreyer
Fox Valley Marathon actually preferred the precipitation.
"The rain didn't bother me at all because it kept me cool," said Angie
Dudman, winner of the Female Overall Half Marathon. "It was a great day;
the weather was perfect. The Fox Valley Marathon is the best thing to
happen to this area in a long time."
But the rain wasn't the only thing that made the second annual race a
little...different.
An off-duty clown won the Marathon after running the entire 26.2 miles
barefoot while another woman refused to let the little fact that she was 26
weeks pregnant stop her from partaking in the Half Marathon.
"I just like to run and I don't want to stop doing it just because I'm
pregnant," Kelley Darnell said. "Running is great for pregnant women.
"I was going to try to qualify for Boston, so I thought I was going to
do the full, but since I was carrying extra weight, I decided to do the
half instead."
Darnell wasn't the only Boston hopeful in the crowd. The 2011 event saw
a 210 percent increase in Boston qualifiers (up to 172 from 82 in 2010),
which bumped the Fox Valley Marathon into 15th on the list of Boston
qualifying races from around the country.
Tim Cunningham may have qualified for Boston in winning the Full
Marathon with a time of 2:56:24, but his barefoot running approach was
anything but standard.
Cunningham, a nurse by day but a clown by night, is the president of a
non-profit organization called Clowns Without Borders. He and other
professional clowns head to refugee camps and zones of crisis around the
world to provide free shows and workshops as a way to provide entertainment
to the children.
He began to train without shoes as a way to honor those children who
are not always fortunate enough to have shoes of their own. The Advocate
Dreyer Fox Valley Marathon was the fifth and final race of his fundraising
tour, but it was the first time he has won a full marathon.
"I feel really lucky to be able to win," he said. "It was kind of a
perfect day to run."
St. Charles native Richard Hornstrom finished shortly after Cunningham
with a time of 2:58:25. Fifty-two-year-old Paul Ciesiun finished third at
3:00:19.
Shannon Bixler, the daughter of co-race director Craig Bixler, came in
first place for the Female Overall Marathon, crossing the finish line at
3:06:10. A St. Charles native again took second, as 22-year-old Ellen Dohan
finished at 3:11:37. Nicole Mitchell (3:16:42) rounded out the top three.
Kevin Piefer paced the Male Masters with a time of 3:06:13 while Nancy
Blum (3:16:56) claimed the Female Masters title.
Geneva resident Dudman was the first female runner to cross the finish line
with a time of 1:34:46 in the Half Marathon while Batavia graduate Daniel
Montgomery took the crown as the first runner to finish, winning the Male
Overall Half in 1:17:49.
Montgomery, who currently lives in Glendale Heights, often trains on
the path in the Fox Valley area.
"This is a great place for a race," he said. "I love it. It's nice to
just come back. It's just really fun to have a race around here."
Greg McCarter (1:25:56) and Roger Bashore (1:26:05) rounded out the top
three for the Male Overall Half Marathon while Laurie Teper (1:38:13) and
Alicia Riggs (1:40:20) followed Dudman in the Female Overall.
St. Charles native Christopher Cook (1:27:43) claimed the Male Masters
title in the Half for the second straight year while Shelly Kannel
(1:40:32) earned the Female Masters crown.
While 2010's event was highlighted by the homecoming of world-renowned
runner Tera Moody, the 2011 race was not without celebrities.
St. Charles East High School assistant principal Bob Abraham ran the
Half Marathon to cheers from students and parents alike while Dane
Rauschenberg, who ran 52 marathons in 52 weeks in 2006, partook in the
20-miler.
"It was a really fun atmosphere," Abraham said. "The people around here
keep you going."
Veteran runner Rauschenberg helped pace Shannon Bixler for the first 10
miles before breaking off in an effort to finish the 20-miler at a time of
2:22:22, just for fun. He crossed at 2:22:20, but was still in high spirits
after the race.
"What's so wonderful about this 20-miler is it gives these people that
last training run right before the Chicago Marathon," he said. "It lets
them get out there and get a feel of what it's like on race day and allows
them a nice, long run that's catered with people cheering for you. You
can't get any better than that."
Rauschenberg finished just outside the top three for Male Overall in
the 20, coming in behind Steve Breese (2:06:11), Matt Fausey (2:08:52) and
Jim White (2:10:20). Helen Nuttall (2:27:35) headed up the Female Overall,
finishing ahead of Julie Soucinek (2:35:08) and Jill Berman (2:36:45).
David Manikowski (2:16:33) won the Male Masters while Helen Mundell
(2:54:51) claimed the Female Masters title.
The 2011 Advocate Dreyer Fox Valley Marathon also featured runners from
around the world, including 11 from Canada and two from Romania.
Andrew Lokan, the first international finisher in the Half Marathon,
found out about the race from MarathonGuide.com when looking for events
around this time of year. He originally was planning on doing the Full
Marathon, but switched to the Half after experiencing some hiccups in his
summer training regimen.
"This race looked like a good one for me," the Toronto native said. "It was
a fast course and gave me a Boston qualifying window when that was still my
plan. And it's close enough to a big city that you can make a nice little
trip out of it.
"There's a lot of people in my running club in Toronto that have their
eyes on this race. It's a beautiful course and it's perfectly position on
the calendar for those last minute Boston qualifiers."
Sheble and Bixler were ecstatic with the final product.
"I couldn't be happier with the results," Craig Bixler said. "We were
able to increase the charity footprint and the support for business such as
hotels and restaurants around the area. Adding the Kids Marathon was a huge
piece as was the growing numbers of participants. Runners still felt like
it was a small race, which is exactly the atmosphere they loved about last
year.
"That's a challenge we face is growing the race numbers but still
keeping the small race feel and I'm very glad we were able to accomplish
that this year.
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