Ryan Jara, 37-year-old father of three, has accomplished a lot since becoming a focused marathon runner in 2022.
Like a berth in the U.S. Olympic Trials this past February and a 2 hour, 17-minute marathon to name two accomplishments.
But one thing had eluded the Gorham resident and Michigan native. A marathon win. Until Sunday.
Jara flirted with a course record for most of the race and hung on with speed to spare to win Sunday’s 33rd Gorham Savings Bank Maine Marathon in 2:21:09.
“I’ve never won a marathon so this is good. This was kind of the goal,” said Jara, the radiology coordinator at Maine Medical. “The record would have been nice but I’m very, very happy with this.”
Jara was on record pace through about 22 miles, he said. The record is 2:19:19 set in 2022 by Ryan Eiler of Boston (more on him later).
“I was on pace. Then the legs set in and then the hills. The hills kind of beat you up,” Jara said. “Still happy. Third fastest marathon for me.”
The Maine Marathon includes a half marathon and a marathon relay. Overall, a record 4,918 runners registered for the race, which in its history has raised over $7 million for Maine-based charitable causes.
Jara credited his wife Claire for his effort, saying that the win was “what we had as a goal.”
Spotting Claire and their boys, Walter, Callaway and Norman, around the 25-mile mark “gave me the little juice I needed to get to the finish line.”
Ryan Forsyth, who recently moved to Rockland finished second in 2:23:08. A former NCAA qualifier in the 10,000 meters and cross country (four times) for the University of Colorado, Forsyth moved to Maine to work for a yacht design company. He specializes in the electric motor design. He’s also a fast marathoner, with a personal best of 2:14, set a year ago in his debut in Dublin, Ireland.
Forsyth said he’s planning to return to Ireland to run Dublin again on Oct. 27. He said the Maine Marathon was “geared as a training run,” with a goal of “squeezing the pace down,” from 5:55 per mile over the first four miles to 5:05 at the end. Forsyth said he was never close enough to Jara to have the competitive fire kick in. Instead he enjoyed the race, with its scenic views, supportive crowds and that his increase in tempo “made it like a pursuit race. I was passing people the whole race.”
The other top five male finishers were Chris Gish of Jeffersonvill, Vt. (2:23:18); 2023 half marathon winner Jesse Orach of Auburn, finishing his first marathon in 2:24:24; and Jacob Lehmann Duke of Berkeley, California (2:28:14).
Women’s winner Jenise Madden, 26, of Osterville, Massachusetts, crossed the line in 2:53:52, followed by Sadie Smith of Kirkwood, Missouri (2:54:59), and Jen Karkoska of Severn, Maryland (2:56:45). Former Mt. Ararat and Providence College sprinter Kelsey Karkos of Topsham, now living in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, was fourth (3:00:05). Mackenzie Hayden of Amherst, New Hampshire placed fifth (3:02:25).
The marathon winners each claimed $1,000 with $800 for second, $600 for third, $400 for fourth and $200 for fifth. The half marathon top five paid out in $100 increments from $500 to $100. The winners of the nonbinary division did not meet the pre-established qualifying standards to earn cash prizes.
Madden, who won the Newport (Rhode Island) Marathon in 2023, was making her first appearance in the Maine Marathon.
“I’m trying to do a marathon in every state. This was my 12th one. So 12 down, 38 to go,” said Madden, a fourth-grade teacher.
Madden credited a new training program based on New Balance Boston elite coach Mark Coogan’s training guide with her strong run, a 10-minute personal best and 14 minutes faster than her winning time in Newport. She wasn’t sure she was leading the women’s field until the halfway point.
“He’s friends with my mom and gave me his book and it was very very helpful. So shout out to Mark Coogan,” Madden said.
Jara and the rest of the men’s marathon field was probably fortunate that Eiler decided to run the half marathon in his return to Maine.
Eiler, 38, now has both the marathon and the half marathon records for the Maine Marathon after shattering the existing half marathon record of 1:05:59. Taking advantage of the cool and cloudy conditions and his Boston Athletic Association training group, Eiler sped home in 1:04:42. Runner-up Colin Cernik, who moved from Missouri to Portland, finished in 1:05:40, also bettering the old mark of 1:05:59 by Kemal Birhanu of New York City in 2019.
Eiler was 15th overall at the 2024 Boston Marathon. He was a barely breathing hard a minute after Sunday’s 13.1-mile run.
“I’m running New York City Marathon in about a month so this was part of my build up,” Eiler said, adding he comes to Maine for a variety of reasons – including convenience.
“I’ve run the marathon before. It’s a great course, great support. It’s not too big. And my brother lives right down the road, less than a mile from the start, so I kind of roll out of bed and show up, it’s nice,” Eiler said.
Brunswick resident and former Waynflete School runner/Nordic skier Phoebe Colvin Oehmig was the women’s half marathon winner in 1:18:14, with 2023 winner Veronica Graziano of Falmouth in second (1:19:07). Estelle Richardson of Boulder, Colorado (1:19:26), and former US Olympic Trials marathoners Michelle Lilienthal of Portland (1:22:06) and Sheri Piers of Falmouth (1:22:18) rounded out the top five.
“I was hoping to get out and run the fastest I’ve ever run today and that happened,” said Oehmig, who is coached by Maine running legend Ben True while doing graduate studies in marine ecotoxicology at Dartmouth. “I have my sights set on the 2028 Olympic Marathon trials so right now I’m just focusing on halfs before I go back to the marathon. So I’m kind of in this four-year cycle right now.”
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