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Baum, King find finish line first

Mark Webb/The Herald-Dispatch

Jamie Evans, Alice Pelais and Elizabeth Smith celebrate as the team crosses the finish line together after running the half-marathon relay during the Marshall Marathon on Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012, at Joan C. Edwards Stadium in Huntington.

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November 12, 2012 @ 12:00 AM

RICK McCANN

The Herald-Dispatch

HUNTINGTON -- Marshall University Marathon winner Justin Baum is building quite a resume.

Baum's triumph Sunday morning in the ninth 26.15-mile road race conducted by HealthyHuntington.org was his fourth in six marathons.

Ashley King from Louisville, Ky., was the first female finisher.

Mason Williams of Buckhannon, W.Va., won the Half-Marathon.

Baum, a 27-year-old from Magnolia, Ohio, near Canton was part of an NAIA national champion cross country team at Malone University in 2007 before taking up marathons.

He ran the Boston Marathon in April and followed with a Canton Marathon victory in June.

The Marshall University Marathon had 593 finishers on a race course that began on Third Avenue alongside Cam Henderson Center, went east to 29th Street and turned back down Fifth Avenue through downtown, past Pullman Square, into the west end of town and through Ritter Park to Joan C. Edwards Stadium for a goal-line finish.

Baum said the Huntington course was nice and flat.

"I felt pretty comfortable most of the time, " Baum said. "It's pretty hilly where I live."

Baum was an All-Ohio cross country runner at Kenston High School in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, before his present job as a teacher and cross country coach at Sandy Valley High School in Magnolia.

Now, he's a winning marathon runner.

"I just love running," he said. "I love the challenge of it. I've been doing it forever and don't want to stop."

Baum had a winning time of 2 hours, 36 minutes and 33 seconds and crossed the goal-line just ahead of runner-up James Beyer, 45, from Dayton, Ohio, who had a time of 2:36.37. Jason Barhorst, 25, from Cincinnati, took third place with a time of 2:42.34.

Brian Floyd, 24, of Scott Depot, W.Va., was sixth (2:47.37) and Travis Epling, 27, from Huntington finished seventh (2:47.49).

The 28-year-old King works as a manufacturing engineer for General Electric. King was signed up to run last week in the New York City Marathon, but that event was canceled because of Hurricane Sandy so she made the three-hour drive up I-64 instead.

King's first-place time among the female runners was 3:07.03, and she was 30th overall. She said it was her ninth or 10th marathon.

Female runnerup Candace DeLong, 22, from Anderson, Ind., had a time of 3:07.35 while Allison Pastorek, 35, from Jonesborouth, Tenn., placed third (3:07.41).

"This was fantastic," King said. "Ritter Park was pretty, but tough. I liked how we went out and back (passing other runners going the opposite way). That was motivation."

King praised some of the race workers for helping get her around the course.

At about the 19-mile mark there was a water stop and her hands were so cold she couldn't grab the cup as she went by. A race volunteer caught up with King and made sure she got the drink in her hands.

"Great volunteers," she said.

King's mother, Lee Bourgault, was in town from Boston and met her daughter at the finish line.

The Half-Marathon won by Williams had 285 runners finish.

Williams, 25, posted a winning time of 1:13.57. Derek Bolyard, 30, from Elkins, W.Va., was second (1:15.21) and Eric Martin, 25, of Parkersburg was third (1:15.46).

Fifth place in the Half-Marathon went to 18-year-old Forrest Reed of Wayne with a time of 1:18.27.

90-year-old sets record

HUNTINGTON -- Mike Fremont, a 90-year-old from Cincinnati, set American age-group records Sunday in the Marshall University Marathon with a finishing time of 6:35.47.

The former USATF-certified American record for a 90-year-old was 6:54.25. For the 90-94 age division the old record was 6:46.34.

Ernext Van Leeuwen of Los Angeles held the previous records.

-- The Herald-Dispatch

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Mark Webb/The Herald-Dispatch

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Mark Webb/The Herald-Dispatch

Racers come off the starting line as they compete in the Marshall Marathon on Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012, in Huntington.

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Mark Webb/The Herald-Dispatch

Justin Baum, 27, of Magnolia, Ohio, runs through Ritter Park as he competes in the Marshall Marathon on Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012, in Huntington. Baum finished first place in the full marathon.

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Mark Webb/The Herald-Dispatch

Justin Baum, 27, of Magnolia, Ohio, finishes first in the Marshall Marathon on Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012, in Huntington.

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Mark Webb/The Herald-Dispatch

Racers come off the starting line as they compete in the Marshall Marathon on Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012, in Huntington.

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Mark Webb/The Herald-Dispatch

Jared Smith, center, tags teammate Marshall Sharp as they compete in the half-marathon relay during the Marshall Marathon on Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012, in Huntington.

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Mark Webb/The Herald-Dispatch

Michele Muth holds up a pair of cut-outs as she supports her husband, Mark Muth, as he competes in the Marshall Marathon on Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012, in Huntington.

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Mark Webb/The Herald-Dispatch

Emmy Fulks, Abby Hankins and Shannon Reynolds celebrate after completing the half-marathon relay during the Marshall Marathon on Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012, at Joan C. Edwards Stadium in Huntington.

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Mark Webb/The Herald-Dispatch

Travis Daugherty carries his daughter Alyssa across the finish line after finishing the half-marathon during the Marshall Marathon on Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012, at Joan C. Edwards Stadium in Huntington.

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Mark Webb/The Herald-Dispatch

Brandon Moore competes in the Marshall Marathon on Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012, in Huntington.

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Mark Webb/The Herald-Dispatch