BY BRIAN FEESSouthern Tier Sports Report
CORNING — A local legend was the runner-up in the Wegmans Wineglass Half Marathon on Sunday morning.
Elmira’s Molly Huddle, a Notre Dame graduate and a two-time Olympian and former U.S. record holder, took second in the half marathon in 1:16.30. Andrea Connie of Connecticut was the winner in 1:15.39. Kellilyn Short of California took third.
For the men Will Loevner of Pittsburgh broke the course record with a time of 1:04.28, followed by Colorado’s Alexander Burks and Christopher Luciano of Massachusetts.
“It’s great, I always wanted to do this race,” Huddle said. “Actually, the track club that my husband runs in Rhode Island has some people here running this race, so we thought it would be a good time to come back and visit my family and hop in the race.”
A few years ago Huddle ran the 5K and was the special guest for the marathon. That kind of got her thinking about running the race.
“That was the first time I spectated and saw the finish line, so I definitely wanted to come back for the full or the half and the half worked out this year,” Huddle said.
Huddle hasn’t run a long race in a while.
“A long time,” she said. “I entered a half in March of this year and tore my hamstring at 10k, so this is my first long one back.”
While she didn’t have a lot of training for the race she felt like she could run well.
“I knew I could run around 77-78, I just hadn’t been training very much this year,” Huddle said. “I had a baby and then I tore my hamstring, so just seeing what I could do off a lot less training. I thought I could be too 3. I was second, my hamstring held up, so that’s a good sign going froward.”
Just being back in town was special for Huddle.
“It was great, that was really special, I always like coming back to Elmira,” Huddle said.
It’s been a long time since the Elmira native ran in a competitive race in the area.
“So long ago, probably college I came back in the summer in college and ran a couple races,” Huddle said.
Hearing all the support from the locals was special.
“It was really nice, I appreciate it so much all the cheers, it felt good,” Huddle said.
Things are a little different for Huddle as she’s now a mother of two.
“It’s good, it’s always a little exhausting,” she said. “The baby was up last night. I got up at 4:30 that’s always a hard time to race the first two years with a baby. It will get easier from here.”
Huddle will be racing again next week in a women’s classic 5K and 10K in Boston.
A FAST TIME IN THE MEN’S WINEGLASS MARATHON
Liam Tilton of New Jersey won the men’s race in 2:17.09, just off the record time in the Wineglass Marathon.
The record time was 2:16.58 by Joseph Whelan in 2023.
“It was hard, it was good,” Hilton said of the race. I’m glad I came. I had a few buddies. I would have liked to have been a minute faster, but I’ll get someday.”
Tilton was just over a minute off the time to qualify for the Olympic Trials.
Tilton said the weather was nice, but just a little windy. Once he started running he took a shot at the Olympic Trials time.
“Once the race started I was like I might as well, I felt good,” he said. “But, I didn’t have it in me today. But, a seven-second PR.”
It’s just the second marathon for Tilton, who ran track and field most of his life.
“It was a good time, I’m happy about it. I am happy to see some friends here,” he said.
Tilton just graduated from Rutgers, where he had the second-fastest 3,000-meter indoor time in Rutgers history in January (8:05.40). He finished second in the 5,000 at the 2023 USATF U20 Outdoor Championships.
Tilton also started up a running club in New Jersey and was happy to represent the club at the race.
“I heard it was a fast one (race),” he said. “One of my friends has a house in the area. Me and some of my friends started a club and we wanted to represent it.”
Men’s Results
1. Tilton 2:17.09
2. Paul Aste (2:22.34)
3. Robert Mazzanti (2:23.47)
4. Austin Turner (2:26.58)
5. Aaron Dinzeo (2:27.54)
6. Marty Butler (2:28.46)
7. David Gregory (2:28.52)
8. Fleet Hower (2:31.34)
9. Shane Rhodes (2:32.57)
10. Jason Merman (2:34.36)
11. Charles Millioen (2:34.38)
12. William Seale (2:34.53)
13. Anthony Moralez (2:35.20
14. Jared Heggenstaller (2:36.41)
15. Devon Soto (2:37.39)
16. Isaac Rubinstein (2:37.57)
17. Riley White (2:38.29)
18. Matt Mason (2:38.46)
19. Josh Perez (2:39.15)
20. Justin Costanza (2:40.07)
KARINA BOLTON-TURNER TOPS TWO-TIME CHAMP IN WOMEN’S RACE
The 29-year old ran a 2:45.08 to edge Lindsay Piraino, the back-to-back champion of the race in 2022 and 2023 in the Wineglass Marathon.
Bolton-Turner won in 2:45.08, just .17 ahead of Piraino.
“Early on I just decided to go for it,” Bolton-Turner said. “I knew it was going to be a grind the whole way through so I just kept chugging along. I made a friend to run with and he helped me through 20 miles of the race and from there just see what I could do and survive.”
Bolton-Turner, who ran in college at RPI, kept an eye on Piraino.
“I was looking over my shoulder a little bit, but I knew she wasn’t that far behind,” Bolton-Turner said. “She ran really well too. It’s nice to see really good competition out here.”
This was the fourth marathon for Bolton-Turner and her first win.
“I didn’t expect it to happen today,” she said. “I’m really happy about it. It’s a great event. I honestly am kind of shocked. I couldn’t believe it.”
The weather was perfect for good times.
“It was great, I ran Berlin last year and it was like 80 degrees, so this was way, way, way better,” she said.
Friends had run the Wineglass Marathon before, which made Bolton-Turner think about running the race.
“One of our friends grew up here and him and some of our other friends ran it last year, so I thought this was a nice event,” Bolton-Turner said.
Women’s results
1. Bolton-Turner (2:45.08)
2. Piraino (2:45.25)
3. Dara Procell (2:48.48)
4. Maureen Carney (2:49.12)
5. Lauren Ross (2:49.43)
6. Bianca Toledo (2:51.59)
7. Trisha Byler (2:52.50)
8. Sara Dowling (2:53.34)
9. Inga Simning (2:55.58)
10. Jing Liu (2:56.29)
11. Iulilia Bernikova (2:56.52)
12. Emily Sharp (2:57.06)
13. Jing Zhang (2:58.20)
14. Alyssa Condell (2:58.36)
15. Kate D’Orazio (2:58.57)
16. Yeah Konstanzer (3:01.04)
17. Molly Rickford (3:01.41)
18. Barbara Mann (3:01.45)
19. Rachel Pinney (3:01.55)
20. Christina Migliore (3:02.51)
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PHOTOS BY BRIAN FEES
PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE HALF AND FULL MARATHONS:
