R.P. White, a 24-year-old part-time janitor, won the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon by pulling ahead for the final two miles of Sunday's race.
View full sizeR.P. White didn't take the lead until the final two miles of the Cleveland Rite Aid Marathon on Sunday, then outlasted his rivals to claim the victory in 2:26:59.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- R.P. White reckons he might be the fastest janitor in the world.
True, the 24-year-old Ypsilanti, Mich., resident's cleaning duties are only part-time, and at night. Running is his true passion. A year after graduating from Eastern Michigan, White only cleans to pay the bills.
On Sunday, White's dedication to the sport at the cost of a full-time job resulted in the first-place medal in the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon as he finished in a personal-best 2:26.59. He held the lead for only the final two-plus miles of the event.
Amidst a misting rain, White began the 26.2-mile course conservatively before turning on the speed and passing Cory Scheadler at Mile 24. Scheadler had led for the majority of the race, out of view of any competitor until White kicked into another gear.
"I just picked it up and put my head down," White said of his late-race surge.
Scheadler, a 28-year-old PhD student in exercise science at Ohio State, said he had a similar strong start, slow finish performance at the Athens Marathon in April, where he also finished second. Still, his 2:28.29 time in Cleveland was his personal best by four minutes.
"My legs just got real heavy," he said. "I was happy to be in the lead for so long, but I didn't know if I had enough cushion."
White, it turns out, had just enough kick in the end. A year after completing his geology and earth science degree at Eastern Michigan, he has been concentrating on running while volunteering as a coach for EMU's women's track team. He cleans an office building at night, wakes early for his own training, and paces women runners later in the day.
His times have been improving, and he won the Glass City Marathon in Toledo in April, as well, with a time of 2:27.48.
"I just want to be around the sport; I really love it," White said.
View full sizeTriumphantly breaking the tape, Nicole Camp from Willowick claimed her second consecutive marathon title while setting a personal-best time by nearly eight minutes.Two for two: Last year, Nicole Camp ran her first marathon. She won.
The 25-year-old Willowick resident is a former track athlete at Toledo, but the marathon distance was new to her until last year's Cleveland event. She finished with the top time in 2:55.38, and with confidence she had found her distance in her sport.
This year, running for the Second Sole team and paced by teammate Verrelle Wyatt, Camp improved both her record and her time in Cleveland while winning the women's marathon in 2:43.47. It was a personal record by about eight minutes, she said, as she held to her vow to start the race conservatively and record negative splits.
"It was perfect conditions," Camp said of the cool, rainy weather. "I ran a much smarter race [this time]."
Last year, Camp said she began the marathon running with a group that moved too quickly. By the time she finished, she was so exhausted that she was recording 9-minute miles at the end.
Her 6:14-mile pace was challenged by Jackie Pirtle-Hall until about the 19th mile. That's when Pirtle-Hall, a St. Charles, Mo., resident, lost steam as she slowed to finish second at 2:47.05. Pirtle-Hall said she came to race the flat course in hopes that she could record a time good enough for the Olympic Trials in January. She missed the mark by one minute.
Pirtle-Hall, who teaches high school English in St. Louis, said she will race one more fall marathon in an attempt to qualify for the Trials.
Camp, meanwhile, was simply happy to be 2 for 2 in Cleveland.
"I'm very excited for this race," said Camp, who works at Lincoln Electric. "It's my hometown race in Cleveland. It's such a great event for the city."
Successful road trip: To win the Cleveland Half-Marathon, it is not necessary to be an out-of-town resident. But it just so happens that winners of both the men's and women's 13.1-mile races traveled to secure a victory here.
David Keenan, a 30-year-old Tonawanda, N.Y., resident, won the men's race in 1:10.27, while 27-year-old Marian Pyles of Charleston, W.Va., won the women's race in 1:21.11.
Both Keenan and Pyles won by less than a minute, with Keenan finishing 29 seconds ahead of Westlake's Drew Fattlar, and Pyles prevailing by 27 seconds over North Canton's Jamie Hunt.
Keenan said the course changes that resulted in finishing the race near Browns Stadium and the misty rain made for perfect conditions.
"It was absolutely awesome," Keenan said. "Personally, I love [the rain]. I never run bad in the rain."
Pyles, meanwhile, had never been to Cleveland until she arrived Saturday, specifically to run the flat course.
"I didn't get to see very much of Cleveland at all until the race," she shrugged.
Now, of course, the out-of-towners are well acquainted with the city.
Source: http://www.cleveland.com/marathon/index.ssf/2011/05/cleveland_marathon_mens_winner.html
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