Numbers grow at second Naperville Marathon
A marathon is a race of numbers, and organizers of the second annual Edward Hospital Naperville Marathon say they're satisfied with the tally from Sunday's race.
Successes in runner participation, finish times and fundraising have organizers already planning for the third annual race to take place on Nov. 8, 2015, possibly with the start/finish line again at Knoch Park south of Naperville Central High School.
"The same location will certainly be an option because that worked out so well," Race Director Craig Bixler said Monday. "It's certainly big enough to hold as many runners again or more if we decide the race should grow."
A total of 4,626 runners became official finishers in the marathon and half marathon Sunday, up from 2,488 in the first race last year. Bixler said nearly 5,000 runners started the races Sunday, but some were unable to finish. A larger number chose to complete the half marathon although they had signed up to go the full distance; but Bixler said those runners were disqualified from counting as official finishers.
Men's marathon winner Yonatan Mascote, 25, of Naperville, finished with a speedier time than he got when he won the Naperville Marathon last year, which Bixler said is reflective of a flatter course without segments on forest preserve trails. Mascote beat his previous time of 2:34:25 by more than 30 seconds, finishing Sunday in 2:33:53.
Women's marathon winner Marisa Hird, 28, of Naperville, finished in 2:50:57, a similar time to last year's women's winner Amanda Mirochna, who came in at 2:50:15.
Roughly 500 runners raised money for one of the 26 charities affiliated with the race, bringing in more than $250,000.
Indian Prairie Educational Foundation benefited most from the marathon, with its team of 31 runners raising $31,000 for individual schools in Indian Prairie Unit District 204 as well as districtwide programs such as teacher grants, heart screenings and an annual science fair.
The individual who raised the most was Chris Benyo of North Aurora, a teacher at Meadow Glens Elementary in Naperville. Benyo's wife, Denise DiMarzo, has ALS, a disease that causes neurons that control motor skills to gradually stop working, and he raised $8,775 for the Les Turner ALS Foundation through the race.
"That's an inspiring thing," Bixler said.
This year's route ran through 26 neighborhoods, and Bixler said the city "came out in force" to cheer on the athletes. North Central College got especially into the festivities, he said, with a band, cheerleaders and a radio broadcast table all set up to welcome runners.
"It sounded like that was an exciting spot to run past on the course or to be on the course if you were a spectator," Bixler said.