Enthusiastic supporters waited at mile markers and the University of Toledo’s football stadium to cheer on Glass City Marathon runners in the longstanding race.
Supporters, like Kristina Curtis, stood on the field of the Glass Bowl, drenched from the rain and dealing with temperatures in the mid-60s waiting for their loved ones to cross the finish line Sunday.
“We just came down here [the stadium] because he’ll eventually finish down here,” Mrs. Curtis said. “We’re going to head that way so we can cheer him on at [the] 25-mile [mark].”
After they finished the race, runners like Gabrielle Basinski, who lives in Seattle, smiled and took pictures with friends and family, celebrating her completion of the race.
The Ohio native reunited with her parents, Dan and Amy, on the field, wearing the medal she received for reaching the finish line.
“There’s a group of us that’s in from Seattle,” she said. “They’re running the full; I ran the half.”
Ms. Basinski’s parents drove from their home in Sandusky to cheer for her.
“We don’t have to go to Seattle, she can just come here,” her mother said as she laughed.
Other runners, including Jeff Gohrband, did the same, celebrating with his wife, Beth, and four kids as he breathed heavily in exhaustion.
He was able to complete the half marathon, even though it wasn’t a good training year for him, he said.
“I had a lot of responsibilities,” Mr. Gohrband said.
The humid weather caused runner Stephanie Meade to struggle a little bit because she trained for the marathon in colder weather, she said.
Her husband, Ben, went to the race with their son to show their support after Mrs. Meade trained for the marathon with her friend, Amanda Hintze, for 12 weeks.
“We just didn’t have humidity like this,” Ms. Hintze said.
“We trained in 30, 40-degree weather all up until today, and then we ran in this humidity and I’m like, ‘My lungs are not used to breathing this,’” Mrs. Meade said.
Volunteers from Team Toledo, a local triathlon club, sported red T-shirts and were there to cheer for runners.
“Every year we just volunteer. ... We wanted to come out and help the community and cheer on the runners and cheer on people we know,” said Sarah Glinski, a team captain for Team Toledo.
The Rev. Jeremy Miller of Corpus Christi University Parish at the University of Toledo sprinkled holy water as students in the Corpus Christi Catholic Student Association surrounded him in the street to encourage runners as they ran around the university on the sidewalk.
“We do a runners' Mass the night before this every year,” he said. “The race used to run right on Dorr Street here past our church where I’d always tailgate. Then about three, four years ago. I just decided to bring holy water out and sprinkle the runners that wanted it. ... The ones that came to the Mass kind of knew to seek me out and then other people along the way just sort of gravitate to it.”
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