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Josh Myers of Jacksonville Beach and Fran Reynolds of Cape Coral became a footnote in Southwest Florida road racing history when they won the male and female titles in the Mangrove Marathon Sunday at Cape Harbour in Cape Coral.
Myers and Reynolds became the title holders for what is believed by local racing historians as the first full marathon in Southwest Florida. Myers won the 26.2-mile race through the streets of Southwest Cape Coral and the mangroves near Cape Harbour on a cool, sunny morning in 2 hours and 53 minutes. Reynolds finished in 3:36.
Lisa Buohler of Lehigh Acres won the women's 13.1-mile half marathon in 1:31, while Sean Williams of LaGrande, Ore., captured the men's half in 1:10.
Myers and Buohler both take running road races to the extreme limits.
Myers is running four marathons in four consecutive weeks, concluding next Sunday in Jacksonville. He started two weeks ago in Melbourne and ran a marathon in Las Vegas last week.
"I know I must be crazy but I was challenged by a friend and I told him I would give it a shot," Myers said. "I've got one left at home.
"This was a great flat course, scenic enough to help you along," Myers said. "It got very windy halfway into the race but you should expect that down here."
Buhler, in the final stages of training for the Disney World Marathon in January, won the Female Masters division Shark Shootout 5K in North Naples Saturday morning after running a marathon in Athens, Greece on Oct. 31. She will run the Marco Island 5K next weekend.
"I considered this a training run for the Disney Marathon. I want to keep running like this while I can," Buohler, 41, said. "The course was good. I was worried I might get lost but it was marked well."
Reynolds was running just her second marathon following the Gasparilla race in Tampa in 2008.
"It was a challenge but my sister and I continued to train in memory of our mother, Frances Swartz, who passed away eight weeks ago," said Reynolds, who normally runs the local 5K and 10K races.
Williams made the trip to Southwest Florida after attending Eastern Oregon University with Lindsey Ulrich, the race organizer.
"My last race I ran a few weeks ago at home was in 10 degree weather, so this was really nice," Williams said.
Jorge Fajardo of New York City finished second in the marathon while Marcus Dumas of Lehigh Acres was third. Dumas was running his first race in 17 years after resuming training in April.
"This is my first marathon and it was painful plus I was fighting a cold," Dumas, 36, said. "I'm going to run Disney and then go back to shorter races."
Mangrove Marathon Results
Marathon Male
John Myers, 27, Jacksonville Beach 2:53.17
Jorge Fajardo, 50, New York City 3:12.50
Marcus Dumas, 36, Lehigh Acres 3:20.05
Marathon Female
Frances Reynolds, 42, Cape Coral 3:36.45
Kathy Casey, 45, Indianapolis 3:43.01
Tasha Wallace, 37, Fort Myers 3:45.05
Half Marathon Male
Sean Williams, 31, LaGrande, Ore. 1:10.19
David Barrie, 30, Vaughan, Canada 1:30.38
Brendan Murphy, 23, Naples 1:34.07
Half Marathon Female
Lisa Buohler, 41, Lehigh Acres 1:31.40
Stacey Persinger, 47, Fort Myers 1:42.13
Stacy Banbury, 20, Cape Coral 1:49.07
Mini Marathon Male
Augusto Aponte, 71, Gainesville 20:22
Louis Rosellini, 53, Fort Myers 22:58
Steve Muse, 39, Arcadia 24:32
Mini Marathon Female
Claudia Vinelli-Ayala, 40, Fort Myers 25:11
Denise Devito, 42, Cape Coral 25:15
Lauren Rosellini, 12, Fort Myers 25:23
Cape Coral resident Fran Reynolds is the first woman to cross the finsh line at the Mangrove Marathon with a time of 3:36:44.9 on Sunday in Cape Coral. A portion of the proceeds from the event, which included a marathon, a half-marathon, relays and a kid's run, went to the Fallen Heroes Fund. (sarah coward/news-press.com)
Jacksonville Beach, FL resident Josh Myers finishes the first Mangrove Marathon in first place with a time of 2:53:17.2 Sunday, December 12 at Cape Harbour in Cape Coral. A portion of the proceeds from the event, which included a marathon, a half-marathon, relays and a kid's run, will go to the Fallen Heroes Fund.
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