Columbus Marathon 2023: Sunbury's Zach Kreft wins men's race
A Sunbury man won the Nationwide Children's Hospital Columbus Marathon Sunday, with his time seconds from qualifying him for the U.S. Olympic Trial Qualifying standard of 2:18:00.
Zach Kreft, running his first marathon, won with a time of 2:18:07. A former standout at Buckeye Valley High School, who set the Ohio 5K high school record, Kreft ran cross country at Notre Dame before returning to Ohio.
Coming in second was Kristoffer Mugrage of Alamosa, Colorado, who took first in the marathon in 2022 and 2021. His time this year was 2:19:22. Last year, Mugrage won with a time of 2:16:11, recording the fastest time in the Nationwide Children's Hospital Columbus Marathon for his second time.
Mugrage is a former Adams State distance runner and now a professor. He won the race in 2021 with a time of 2:17:05. The overall Columbus Marathon's men's record time, set in 1980, is by Sweden's Tommy Persson with a time of 2:11:02.
George Onyancha, of Grand Prairie, Texas, came in third on Sunday with a time of 2:20:30.
In the women's division, Kenyan Damaris Areba won with a time of 2:34:38 and Shannon Smith, of Flagstaff, Arizona, came in second and qualified for the Olympic trials with a time of 2:36:43. Third place was won by Columbus resident Christina Murphy, with a time of 2:42:00.
James Ngandu, of Kenya, now in Van Wert, Ohio, and a former student at Tiffin University in Tiffin, won the men's half marathon for the fifth straight time with a time of 1:03:27, beating his winning time last year of 1:04:00 by seconds.
Another man from Kenya, Raymond Magut, came in at 1:05:40 to take second place and Cuyahoga Falls resident Nick Stricklen was in third with 1:06:02.
Sarah Naibei, of Kenya, won the women's half marathon with a time of 1:11:20. Second place went to Kelsey Pontius of Jacksonville, Florida with a time of 1:15:39 and Findlay resident Hannah Wymer got third place with a time of 1:16:26.
About the Columbus Marathon
The Columbus Marathon was sold out this year, with 12,000 participants and about 100,000 spectators cheering athletes on.
People came from 47 states, Washington D.C. and 13 countries to compete.
The marathon has been held for 43 years, and the half marathon for 17. Nationwide Children's Hospital has been the beneficiary of the money raised since 2012. More than $13 million has been raised for the hospital since, including an estimated $1 million this year.
“Nationwide Children’s is a community treasure and it’s an honor for the Columbus Marathon to partner with them to raise life-saving dollars for the millions of children who are served by them each year," said Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus Marathon & Half Marathon Race Director Darris Blackford, in a statement.
2022 Marathon results: Kristoffer Mugrage is first again in Nationwide Children's Hospital Columbus Marathon
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Zach Kreft wins 2023 Nationwide Children's Hospital Columbus Marathon
