The Ellwood City Ledger 10K returns for 40th anniversary

ELLWOOD CITY − The Ellwood City Ledger 10K returned for its 40th anniversary Saturday as part of the 40th annual Ellwood City Arts, Crafts, Food & Entertainment Festival.

Like the festival, the race returned after a two-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I think it's wonderful for the community," said race director Ed Leymarie. "We needed a happy event, and this is it."

The overall winner of the race was 12-year-old Colton Ginsburg from Venetia, with a time of 38:10.96.

This was Ginsburg's first 10K race, with Leymarie stating he is the youngest overall winner in the race's history.

Overall male winners and overall top three finishers:

1. Colton Ginsburg, 12, of Venetia - 38:10.96

2. Matt Montellanico, 34, of Freedom - 39:06.96

3. Ron Liscio Jr., 37, of Pittsburgh - 40:50.99

Overall female winners:

1. Natalie Lape, 17, of New Castle - 41:35.22

2. Amy O'Donnell, 37, of Ebensburg - 42:58.15

3. Julie Patterson, 35, of Monaca - 43:29.96

Female 1 to 13:

1. Olivia Kotuby, 12, of Alexandria - 58:10.63

Female 14 to 19:

1. Brooke Wissinger, 16, of Fombell - 50:18.17

2. Katharine Ambrose, 16, of Ellwood City - 1:26:45.20

Female 20 to 26:

1. Corinne Savena, 25, of Portersville - 56:41.21

2. Miriam Kluitenberg, 23, of Pittsburgh - 58:54.46

3. Jamie Brian, 26, of Jeannette - 1:05:15.40

Female 27 to 33:

1. Gina Petito, 27, of Bridgeville - 48:47.84

2. Anna Wargo, 29, of Beaver Falls - 58:55.17

3. Kaylin Kloos, 33, of Hagerstown - 1:01:12.85

Female 34 to 40:

1. Devon Swick, 37, of Westerville - 44:42.42

2. Alicia Martinez, 40, of Livermore - 53:57.96

3. Durann Ecalono, 36 - 54:21.55

Female 41 to 45:

1. Maureen Ginsburg, 42, of Venetia - 46:31.71

2. Corinne Petrus, 43, of Monaca - 52:33.26

3. Toni Zona, 44, of Fairview - 55:45.94

Female 46 to 50:

1. Michelle Gawlinski, 46, of Kittanning - 55:42.68

2. Katie Gargiulo, 49, of Beaver Falls - 1:06:59.41

3. Amy Lutz, 47, of Ellwood City - 1:07:12.56

Female 51 to 60:

1. Lori Masters, 54, of New Wilmington - 49:53:46

2. Michele Bamburak, 60, of Wexford - 57:52.80

3. Rebecca Howell, 51, of Hermitage - 1:00:57.65

Female 61 to 70:

1. Charlotte Serjak, 61, of New Castle - 56:27.87

2. Cindy Suber, 62, of Portersville - 56:53.96

3. Patricia Ward, 65, of Pittsburgh - 1:03:55.11

Female 71 and over:

1. Shari Verdecchia, 72, of Ellwood City - 1:13:00.70

2. Kathy Shoaf, 75, of New Castle - 1:18:35.23

Male 1 to 13:

1. Dante Venezie, 12, of Ellwood City - 47:07.70

2. Dylan O'Donnell, 7, of Ebensburg - 58:19.42

3. Colton O'Donnell, 8, of Ebensburg - 1:05:38.90

Male 14 to 19:

1. Colton Wayne, 17, of Ellwood City - 42:05.41

2. Drew Steffler, 16, of Ellwood City - 43:32.38

3. Michael Styn, 15, of Ellwood City - 46:52.29

Male 20 to 26:

1. Pat Byrd, 25, of Cranberry Township - 45:20.57

2. Jeffrey Gardner, 26, of Ellwood City - 46:36.52

3. Jonah Kingston, 22, of Fombell - 46:46.21

Male 27 to 33:

1. Kyle Beckhusen, 30, of Beaver Falls - 41:04.97

2. Cody Redmond, 29, of Bridgeville - 41:14.46

3. Josh Nye, 31, of Beaver - 42:27.20

Male 34 to 40:

1. Sean Coonfare, 35, of Pittsburgh - 42:23.70

2. Andrew Trbovich, 35, of Coraopolis - 43.48.79

3. Dan Kuzma, 40, of Camfield - 43:59.84

Male 41 to 45:

1. Nate McAlister, 43, of Ellwood City - 42:51.19

2. Justin Zackal, 41, of New Wilmington - 45:46.21

3. Marco Martello, 43, of Pittsburgh - 50:04.39

Male 46 to 50:

1. Matt Bernardi, 47, of Butler - 49:48.19

2. Greg Hardin, 47, of Ellwood City - 58:22.22

3. Brian Robertson, 49, of Ellwood City - 1:08:07.46

Male 51 to 55:

1. Douglas Basinski, 51, of Pittsburgh - 42:10.71

2. Todd Roberts, 55, of Zelienople - 42:16.93

3. Jeff Hertzler, 55, of Beaver Falls - 43:57.96

Male 56 to 59:

1. Greg Mussitsch, 56, of Venetia - 43:04.27

2. John Armstrong, 56, of Grove City - 50:43.18

3. Dan Dibble, 56, of New Castle - 51:38.31

Male 60 to 64:

1. Dave Chinchilla, 62, of Ambridge - 41:38.92

2. Ron Walker, 62, of Ellwood City - 48:12.93

3. Emmett Santillo, 60, of North Sewickley Township - 51:34.97

Male 65 to 69:

1. Boone Weatherly, 68, of Aliquippa -1:07:45.21

2. Wayne Evron, 68, of Pittsburgh - 1:17:08.45

Male 70 and over:

1. David Adams, 73, of Harmony - 1:01:24.74

2. Paul Johnson, 75, of New Castle - 1:07:13.77

3. Steve Haklo, 70, of Ellwood City - 1:13:06.78

The youngest male in the race was Dylan O'Donnell, age 7, with the oldest male being Ron Kuzma, age 75.

The youngest female was Katharine Ambrose, age 16, with the oldest female being Kathy Shoaf, age 75.

Ellwood City Forge won the overall company/organization team award.

There were 80 male participants and 49 female participants for a total of 129 competitors.

The 10K, which equates to 6.214 miles, took participants through all five wards of the borough.

Ellwood City Mayor Anthony Court, who led the parade in an Ellwood City Police Department vehicle, said it means the world to him to have the race and the festival back, stating it gets to showcase the wonderful borough community, traditions and people.

Herb Cratty, the owner of Miles to Smiles Times Service, who kept track of the race times, used to compete in the race in the past, winning many times before.

He said the 10K race is a prestigious event and course, and rather unique, as most festivals have switched to having 5K races.

"It's pretty cool that the race is a 10K, and has stayed a 10K," Cratty said.

Former Ellwood City Ledger employee Blanche Novak, who helped organize the original races, has been volunteering for years, stating she enjoys helping out and seeing people compete.

She said there were people who registered for the race, who were originally from Ellwood City, who came to town from California and Las Vegas.

Nicholas Vercilla is a staff reporter for the Ellwood City Ledger. He can be reached at nvercilla@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Ellwood City Ledger: Ellwood City Ledger 10K returns for 40th anniversary