Race founder Steve Marks runs marathon for first time this year

Nearly 6,000 kids and adults took to the streets of Akron Saturday to participate in the 4th annual Road Runner Akron Marathon & Team Relays. It was the largest field in the race's history.

Alene Reta, from Ethiopia, captured the men's title in 2 hours, 22 minutes, 2 seconds after a neck-and-neck race throughout the 26.2 mile course. Leteyesus Berhe, 28, also from Ethiopia won the women's race in 2:55:23.

Cleveland's Fred Kieser, 35, who stayed with Reta until falling behind at 25 miles, finished second with a time of 2:22:31. Kieser, the 2005 winner of the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon, is a girl's cross country coach at St. Joe's Academy in Cleveland. Julie Varner, a 31-year-old runner from Apple Creek, finished second female in 3:04:04.

John Piggot, 41, of Williamsburg, Va., set a new course record in the men's masters division - 40 and over - with a time of 2:37:31, while Karen Collins of Tampa, Fla. took the crown in the women's masters race in 3:17:28

Steve Marks, founder of the Road Runner Akron Marathon ran in the race for the first time. The 47-year-old running enthusiast finished with a time of 4:12:25.

The number of participants in this year's race increased by nearly 30 percent, and finishers in the marathon increased in 2006 to a record 1,036, due in part to the partnership between the Road Runner Akron Marathon and Etonic to provide each marathon finisher with a free pair of Etonic running shoes.

Almost 3,800 runners competed in the race on a team. Team relays are a full marathon distance race (42.2K/26.2 miles) divided into five legs (10K, 5K, 10K, 5K and 12.2K) or two legs (25K and 17.2K). Additionally, approximately 950 children participated in the Kid's Fun Run, a 1K run along the Ohio & Erie Canal.

The fourth Road Runner Akron Marathon and Chase Team Relays started near the National Inventors Hall of Fame and concluded in Olympic fashion inside the Canal Park Stadium in downtown Akron.

For more information visit www.akronmarathon.org