Downtown Columbus Comes Alive with 15,000 Athletes

October 22, 2009 by Alicia Roberts

This past Sunday marks the 30th anniversary of a Columbus tradition. Many are still unaware of this spectacular event for it jump starts downtown, the vacant land of the evening and weekends. However, having grown to 5,000 more people since 2007, it is hard to miss loads of extra traffic and masses of blurring colored spandex.
 
Nancy Campbell, 70 enjoyed the experience from the sidelines. She and Pricilla, her Chihuahua counterpart, examined from a bus stop at the intersection of Washington and Towne St. “To see a ballet or whatever on the tube, you can’t feel it. You gotta be there to hear the breath intake.”
 
The Nationwide Better Health Columbus Marathon is one of the top 25 marathons in the United States. It also places as one of the nation’s top chair racing marathons. It is estimated that there are over 350 active marathons nationwide. According to Columbusmarathon.com, about 20% of the Columbus participants qualified for the Boston Marathon in April of 2010.
 
Both the Columbus and Boston Marathons are 26 miles. A half marathon also takes place at 13 miles and with a slightly different route. How else are you going to control 30,000 cross training tennis shoes squeaking around the city? The race began at the intersection of Broad and Third at 7:30am. Participants had until 3pm to cross their victorious selves over the finish line.
 
Seven and a half hours seems as an eternity to keep on truckin’ but the winners all placed well under 3 hours. Matthew Folk, first place for male participants, finished with a time of 2:22:45 while Rachel Kinsman finished in 2:47:44 for the female participants.
 
The running itinerary stretched through Bexley, GermanVillage, South OSU campus, through Upper Arlington and into Grandview. Surprised spectators from all of central Ohio gazed at this annual phenomenon of ambition! The race is becoming so popular amongst marathon runners and athletic trainers that it is looking to sell out for the next few years.
 
As Campbell held a crumpled route schedule, she informed me that this was only her second year of attendance. We took a minute to compare all that has happened since the last race and she concluded, “There was something in the air this year. I just…don’t know what it was.”