‘Less-than-perfect running weather.’ Durham runner wins Saturday’s Charlotte Marathon
A Durham man won Saturday’s Novant Health Charlotte Marathon, and a Charlotte runner finished first among women in the 26.2-mile race across the Queen City.
Nearly 6,000 athletes from 45 states and six countries competed in the 18th rendition of the run, organizers said.
Jacob Rutz finished first in 2 hours, 38 minutes, 44 seconds, according to the marathon.
Erin Del Guidice was the top woman finisher with a time of 2 hours, 49 minutes, 51 seconds, race results showed.
“Went out strong, probably a little too hard,” Rutz told marathon officials about his first marathon attempt. “Weather, humidity … not going to sandbag it, it was a pretty good race, all things considered.”
‘It was hot,’ top women’s finisher says
Del Guidice is a veteran marathoner and first-time Charlotte finisher.
“It was hot, it was hilly, but it’s a good course,” she told officials, according to a marathon news release. “Will I be back for it next year? We’ll see!”
In the Saturday half marathon, Xavier Salvador from Washington was the top men’s finisher with a time of 1:13:25.
Charlottean Hannah Wolkenhauer was the top women’s finisher, clocking a time of 1:29:00, according to the race results.
Waxhaw runner Will Walsh topped the men’s field in Saturday’s Chick-fil-A 5K, with a time of 16 minutes, 38 seconds.
Nikki Byrne from Chapel Hill was the top women’s finisher with a time of 20 minutes, 23 seconds.
Complete results are available on AthLinks.com.
Runners “resilient” despite weather
Runners faced warmer-than-average temperatures and higher winds than normal, resulting in “less-than-perfect running weather” that “may have slowed today’s finish times,” organizers said.
Highs were in the low- to mid-60s from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. with winds at 5 to 10 mph, meteorologist Justin Lane of the National Weather Service office in Greer, South Carolina, told The Charlotte Observer.
Yet “runners are a resilient bunch by nature,” Tim Rhodes, RunCharlotte president and Charlotte Marathon race director said in the news release.
“They rose to the occasion and the elements … we couldn’t be more excited for them,” he said. “And we can’t say ‘thank you’ enough to the participants, the volunteers, our partners and our team for making this event such a success.”
This story was originally published November 13, 2022 at 8:58 AM.