Congratulation to my son, Kenny Janosko! Sunday was a highlight for me as I observed one of the most amazing athletic performances I have ever witnessed. I hooked up with him on my bike around the 3 mile aid station. At this point, he had partnered up with another runner, with the leader way out in front and a pack of four about a minute ahead of him. At mile 5, the leader, one of the four and Kenny’s partner all veered right onto the half marathon course down Corduroy Road. Kenny was now by himself in 4th place for the marathon. The lead pack ran strong together through the 7 mile mark, about 1 & ½ minutes ahead of Kenny. By the 10 mile point, separation occurred in the lead pack and Kenny began to slowly close the gap on third place. His only objective at this point was to maintain a good pace and to adjust his tight fitting shoes (on three separate occasions). He told me he would wait until the final 5 miles to see how he felt to see if he could push the pace a little. He caught the 3rd place runner around Lake Catholic high school (12 miles) and ran past his old school, Bellflower Elementary, where Barb and Beka Denton and their Girl Scout troop ran the aid station. Just past Lakeshore Boulevard, he passed the half marathon time clock in 1:21 and some change. Between mile 14 & 15, he overtook the second place runner on Salida Drive and steadily increased his lead on him. From here, it was back onto Lake Shore and into the Mentor Lagoons. I lost him for a mile or two here as the sandy and rocky trail forced me off my bike in spots and slowed me up in other parts. I finally caught back up with him around mile 19 on Lake Overlook Drive. It was here Kenny admitted to getting sore & tired and said he just needed to “grind through it”. After a left turn onto Jordan Drive, we began to encounter some of the half marathoners and also picked up some extra support in the form of Kenny’s good friend and former Mentor High cross country teammate Tyler Lowe, also on a bike. Upon entering Mentor Headlands, we passed the leader as he was starting to head out of the park, still about 1 & ½ minutes in front of Kenny. As we passed Lake Shore at mile 23, we could see Kenny was gaining on the leader and when the leader signaled his crew for some support a short time later, I thought there was a chance for Kenny to catch him. His crew stopped their car on the road and dumped out the contents of a backpack. One crew member hastily grabbed something and sprinted ahead to their runner. It was at this point Kenny passed him on a small hill and steadily pulled away as it leveled out. During those last 2 & ½ miles, Kenny was weaving in and out of the half marathoners and a few vehicles, gradually picking up the pace; probably running around 5:30’s the last two miles to finish more than 5 minutes ahead of second place in 2:40 (negative splits) to win his first marathon attempt! I’m very proud of him and it was nice to see all of his hard work and dedication pay off on this beautiful morning for a run. A very special thank you to his past coaches / mentors over the past 10 years; Ken Simko, Rick Webb, Mentor High Cross Country & Track Coach Bill Dennison and Baldwin Wallace Cross Country & Track Coach Bill Taraschke. Also thanks to all our fellow NERC members and other volunteers, including the Mentor, Mentor-on-the-Lake and Fairport Harbor Police departments for outstanding traffic control. And how can I forget the two most important people, race directors Geoff Weber and Bill Dennison. It wasn’t my fastest bike ride or the longest of the year, but it was, without a doubt, the most enjoyable one and one I’ll never forget.
Posted on: Thu, 17 Oct 2013 11:32:23 +0000
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