But this test pilot from Edwards Air Force Base in California is no stranger to the pavement at Wright-Patt.
»ARCHDEACON: Marathon just another challenge for Castro
Kelly, who was running his third Air Force Marathon, finished fifth in 2013.
Drawing on his experience, he pushed passed the field to earn his first marathon victory with a time of 2 hours, 40 minutes and 34 seconds Saturday.
“I knew I had been maintaining average splits, so I knew they had been slowing down,” Kelly said. “I’ve done this before. Once you slow down, it’s hard to recover.”
Battling cramps on a sunny day with the late-morning temperature registering at 73 degrees, Kelly made his move, finally pulling ahead on mile 24.
“I’ve been there before, I know to slow it down a little bit to be able to survive the rest of the race. I trusted my training and slugged through the last four,” he said. “I knew I would have a chance, so I worked my way to the second-place guy and then the first-place guy.
“It’s really surreal — once i got to mile 24, I said this is my race to lose at this point, just don’t slow down, and it worked out.”
Credit: DaytonDailyNews
• Bellbrook’s Ann Alyanak re-entered the competitive racing world with a bang, winning the women’s race in 2 hours, 56 minutes and 57 seconds.
She last ran in 2011, winning the Columbus Marathon. She already had one child before winning that race, and has had two since.
“After our third baby, I was finally getting back into decent shape and running was going fairly well and I thought, ‘What a better way to do it again than at a hometown marathon?’ I knew at some point I wanted to do this marathon,” she said.
Alyanak walked to the starting line with the hope she could pull off her first win in six years. In the back of her head, she was thinking about getting a fast enough time to advance to the 2020 Olympic trials.
“But after mile three, I knew that wasn’t going to happen,” she said. “So then it was just a matter of running solid and getting the win.”
Running is jut a way of life in her household.
“My husband, he’s supportive and he coaches me, and puts together a lot of my training,” Alyanak said. “He runs and does triathlons, and my kids don’t know any different. It’s normal for them on a weekend morning, mom goes, dad goes. That’s what we do.”
• In the men’s half marathon, Tipp City native Jason Salyer has a great story to tell when he starts his new job as a civilian member of the Air Force on Monday.
Just imagine: “Oh, hey, new guy, what’d you do over the weekend?”
“Oh you know, won the Air Force half marathon.”
Salyer crosed the finish line in 1 hour, 13 minutes and 34 seconds for his second half-marathon victory. He won the Winans to Winans half in Piqua last September.
“My mental toughness is what allowed me to prevail today,” said Salyer, who took the lead around mile 10 and never looked back. “When you get tired, the second you have any negativity or doubts in your mind, you’re done.
“The last 400 meters is all will power, and I have just as much if not more willpower than everyone out here.”
• Women’s half marathon winner Emily Shertzer repeated as champion with a time of 1 hour, 21 minutes, 55 seconds.
“Last year, I came in hoping to win. I was in good shape, I was well prepared and I was trying for a fall marathon, so this was a good prep run,” she said. “This year I didn’t run most of June and July, and I didn’t have a good lead into this so I had zero expectations.”
Shertzer calls Jonestown, Pennsylvania home but loves this race because of the atmosphere.
“This race and the Marine Corps Marathon and the Army 10-miler are so different from the regular, standard marathons, because of the military feel,” she said. “The support, the aircraft, running by the museum, it’s just a neat atmosphere.”
• Dustin Sprague earned the men’s 10K win with a time of 33 minutes, 4 seconds. Molly Brown took the women’s division in 40 minutes, 29 seconds.
RACE WINNERS
Men’s marathon: Bryan Kelly, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., 2:40:34
Women’s marathon: Ann Alyanak, Bellbrook, 2:56:57
Men’s half-marathon: Jason Salyer, Tipp City, 1:13:34
Women’s half-marathon: Emily Shertzer, Jonestown, Pa. 1:21:55
Men’s 10K: Dustin Sprague, Dayton, 330:4
Women’s 10K: Molly Brown, Grove City, 40:29
Men’s 5K: Brandon Hough, Beavercreek, 16:28
Women’s 5K: Julie Hartenbach, Alexandria, Va., 19:12
About the Author