The age group was new, but another stellar performance was nothing new to Martha Degrazia of Slingerlands on Monday.
Running in the 60-64 division for the first time,
Degrazia took third in her age group at the 115th annual Boston Marathon.
For the second year in a row, she ran a faster time than the previous year, finishing in 3:28:29, just over a minute behind Alyn Park of Denver and well behind 60-year-old Barbara Broad (3:19:01) of Pepper Pike, Ohio.
Degrazia, who won the women’s 50-54 age group at the 2003 New York City Marathon, posted a 3:29:39 at Boston in 2009 to finish third in the women’s 55-59 and ran 3:28:51 last year for 10th.
Luke Shane, 21, of Bolton Landing, ran a 2:44:49, and former Marist College runner David Raucci, of Germantown, ran a 2:46:18.
Also under three hours were Justin Vianese, 38, of Saratoga Springs (2:54:44); Johan Bosman, 51, of Niskayuna (2:59:44); and Broan Northan, 36, of Guilderland (2:59:57).
Bosman’s time was good for 51st in the men’s 50-54 age group.
Scotia’s Brian DeBracci, 45, finished in 3:14:22 to push his streak of completed Boston Marathons to 14, but he has a ways to go before he can equal the streak of 59-year-old Dan Larson of Queensbury, who finished Boston for the 36th year in a row with a time of 3:32:56.
Larson, who ran Boston for the first time as an
undergraduate at Yale University and still wears his old Yale singlet to the race, has started 42 straight Boston Marathons.
Paul Forbes, 60, of Colonie ran a 3:18:29 to finish 12th in the men’s 60-64 age group.
Also among the 60-and-over set, Joseph Yavonditte of Schenectady (3:47:34) and Robert Ellison of Slingerlands (3:49:33) were able to finish in well under four hours.
David Bruce, 69, of Saratoga Springs was 107th in the men’s 65-69 with a time of 4:22:54.
The top women’s finisher from the Capital Region was 31-year-old Christina Ardito of Niskayuna, who ran a 3:08:13.
Karen Dolge of Valatie posted a 3:13:45 to finish 42nd in the women’s 40-44 age group.
Gretchen Oliver, running in her fourth career
marathon, knocked nearly three minutes off her personal record by finishing in 3:15:00.
The 36-year-old from Guilderland, a teacher at Sand Creek Middle School in Colonie, is a member of the Willow Street running club.
Also running sub-3:30 among Capital Region
women were 29-year-old Kimberly Milton of Clifton Park (3:16:44); 36-year-old Tara Lavonas of Latham (3:22:53); 38-year-old Allison Craig of Delmar (3:24:22); and 33-year-old Anne Kubasiak of Averill Park (3:25:42).
Just missing the three-hour mark among the men were 24-year-old Peter Lamb of Clifton Park (3:00:51); 35-year-old Clay Lodovice of
Albany (3:01:01); 44-year-old Steven Becker of Schenectady (3:01:13); and 21-year-old Ryan Hudyncia of Fort Plain (3:01:30).
Another Willow Street runner, Lori Kingsley, 45, of Wysox, Pa., posted a 2:51:02 to finish first in the women’s 45-49 age group.
Chris Hartshorn, the 2002
Gazette Stockade-athon champion, was 36th overall with a time of 2:24:09. The 39-year-old from New Zealand formerly lived in Niskayuna and now resides in Concord, Mass.
Categories: -Sports-
