TOLEDO, Ohio — The 47th annual Glass City Marathon began warm and muggy as thousands of runners stood ready to begin the race.
And as the sound of a bullhorn filled the air, they were off.
Surrounding the course, friends and family waited in anticipation to cheer on their runner.
While the marathon and half-marathon began at 6:30 a.m., the rest of the day still had a 5-person relay, a 5K walk and run as well as a kids marathon.
According to the race director Clint McCormick, over seven thousand people signed up to participate in the day’s races, and the Glass Bowl quickly became more and more crowded as the hours passed.
For many of the runners, the months leading up to the race were filled with training, dedication, and more all in anticipation of this one day.
Tabitha Taylor and Aquilina Cordic attended the event to support their loved one, Josh Taylor, as he ran in the race.
Tabitha said seeing the amount of time and dedication that went into Josh’s training, she wanted to be there to support him to support him.
“It makes me proud. If you put yourself in those shoes, it's really hard to do something like this, especially this early in the morning,” said Tabitha.
And the support they felt for Josh was multiplied for the other runners.
"Being here to support a loved one is also supporting everyone else,” said Cordic.
McCormick said that while he doesn’t get a lot of sleep the day of the race but it's worth it. His favorite part is watching the runners cross the finish line.
"It's quite humbling to be able to see this. Especially as you see later on in the morning as people come through that finish line. It's quite emotional,” said McCormick. “People come through there, and they've accomplished the race. It's not so much about what they did today, but it's what got them here."
After 26.2 miles, along with initial issues in the race, including tendon problems with his ankle, Derek Stone from Westlake, Ohio, a first-time Glass City Marathon participate, crossed the finish line first with a time of 2:28:30.4. It was his second-ever marathon.
Stone said that his career as a runner began in college. However, he said that with his recent issues, he wasn’t feeling his best and had some worries going into the race.
"I was concerned I wasn't going to finish today,” said Stone.
However, he persevered, and he said that despite having to stop at one point, he kept going and eventually surpassed the others, making his way to the front.
"A lot of things changed throughout the race, but the last few miles is kind of where everything came together,” said Stone.
Throughout the race, fans were lined up across the stretch of the marathon, cheering on the runners as they ran.
Despite the pouring rain and less-than-ideal conditions, Stone said he appreciated everyone who came to support the runners on their journey.
“With a day like today and it raining like this, to see people come out is pretty special."
Editor's note: This story has been edited to correct an error regarding the number of times Stone had run a marathon.
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