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A former member of the University of Wisconsin cross-country and track team won the Milwaukee Marathon on Saturday morning and a 32-year-old mother of three made a huge comeback to win the women's division.
Tony Adriansen, 21, a junior computer science major at UW, finished first with a time of 2 hours 21 minutes and 11 seconds. Krista Staley of Missouri was crowned the women's winner.
An 8K runner for his first two years in college, Adriansen took the giant leap to the 26.2-mile marathon distance just within the past year. In his first-ever marathon in 2024, the Madison Marathon, he took second place.
Now, he's a winner already, in just his second marathon.
The Green Bay native led the entire way without a close challenger and may have found his ideal race distance.
"I was never really like the fastest sprinter on the scene," said Adriansen, who added he ran longer-distance races in high school and college. "So moving up felt pretty natural. I've actually never even raced a half-marathon.
"I signed up for Chicago this fall. And then I decided, I want to run something in the spring, but I don't want to burn out and run a full. So I'll run the Milwaukee half-marathon.
"And then, like, I don't know, five weeks ago, I was like, well, training is going really well ..."
So he signed up for the full and ended up winning it.
Running with the momentum of the half-marathoners in the mass starting line, Adriansen then took the lead solo between three and four miles when the two distances split the course route. Alone with just the cyclists who cleared the route before him, he monitored his blistering fast 5:24 pace with his watch.
"My goal − because I only switched to the full five weeks ago − was, 'I just want to run faster,'" Adriansen said. "And so this definitely exceeded it, because it was 2 minutes faster."
Noting the hill by the water tower that most runners found to be a bit of a beast, he liked the course overall.
"Running along the water was really cool," he said. "Madison Marathon ran around Lake Monona, and I just like running on the water. So having that full massive stretch right by Summerfest is really cool."
By the time he rejoined the half-marathoners to share the same course and finish the final five miles or so, Adriansen had become a bit of a celebrity with his marathon blue bib in a sea of red half-marathon bibs.
"Everyone was like, 'Oh my gosh, look at that dude,'" he said.
With a beautiful first-place medal, all he needs now is a name, image and likeness deal.
Krista Staley just needed to take a seat for a hot second.
Crossing the tape with a strong stride as the first woman in the marathon, Staley, of Ballwin, Missouri, was immediately surrounded by tons of running teammates and friends who came to support her.
Winning in 2:51:18, Staley cruised with a 6:33-minute mile, just narrowly edging out Mary Hanson of Milwaukee, who took second place.
This was a triumphant comeback. After her daughter was born, she raced Boston and then trained for two more marathons − but got sick both times. Pneumonia knocked her out of one marathon race and a ruptured ear drum the night before knocked her out of another. It had been two and a half years since Staley had done a marathon and her coach from her running team Spewak in Missouri recommended the Milwaukee Marathon for her next try.
"Coming to this start line, I just have the utmost gratitude, because I had two others taken away from me in the past," Staley said. "We vote every year for a spring and a fall marathon, and we all voted for this one.
"I knew nothing about the course or anything, but I trusted my coach who recommended that I do it. We trained for the course, and I loved it. I loved your course. And I could definitely see our team coming back for years to come."
With the lead, Staley started to hurt about two-thirds of the way into the marathon, but thinks she banked enough time from her strong start to maintain her lead until the end.
"I'm proud of myself, because yes, I did slow down, but it wasn't like I blew up," she said. "So I'm proud of that."
Race director Chip Hazewski believed this to be a somewhat fast and flat course, but even by Wisconsin's standards, the Milwaukee Marathon has some decent hills. By this Missourian's standards − it was OK as well.
"Looking at the course map elevation, " Staley said, "we were anticipating a really hilly race, and so that's what I trained for. But it wasn't that bad.
"It's a great course. I loved it. I actually really enjoyed going on that trail. I really liked that. And there was plenty of people cheering all throughout the race. Overall. I loved it.
"I never thought I would ever win a marathon. And my brother was here all over the course, taking photos, and him seeing me win, and the hug I shared with my coach afterwards, like those are the moments that I'm not going to forget."
The marathon was capped at 1,300 runners and, as of noon Saturday, there were no medical emergencies. Running under a sun-splashed blue sky, temperatures and conditions were perfect with light winds.
"We are excited to have delivered a great and safe event to the runners of Milwaukee," Hazsewski said, "and all those who traveled in."
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Marathon crowns winners Tony Adriansen, Krista Staley
Continue reading...
Tony Adriansen, 21, a junior computer science major at UW, finished first with a time of 2 hours 21 minutes and 11 seconds. Krista Staley of Missouri was crowned the women's winner.
An 8K runner for his first two years in college, Adriansen took the giant leap to the 26.2-mile marathon distance just within the past year. In his first-ever marathon in 2024, the Madison Marathon, he took second place.
You must be registered for see images attach
Now, he's a winner already, in just his second marathon.
The Green Bay native led the entire way without a close challenger and may have found his ideal race distance.
"I was never really like the fastest sprinter on the scene," said Adriansen, who added he ran longer-distance races in high school and college. "So moving up felt pretty natural. I've actually never even raced a half-marathon.
"I signed up for Chicago this fall. And then I decided, I want to run something in the spring, but I don't want to burn out and run a full. So I'll run the Milwaukee half-marathon.
"And then, like, I don't know, five weeks ago, I was like, well, training is going really well ..."
So he signed up for the full and ended up winning it.
Running with the momentum of the half-marathoners in the mass starting line, Adriansen then took the lead solo between three and four miles when the two distances split the course route. Alone with just the cyclists who cleared the route before him, he monitored his blistering fast 5:24 pace with his watch.
"My goal − because I only switched to the full five weeks ago − was, 'I just want to run faster,'" Adriansen said. "And so this definitely exceeded it, because it was 2 minutes faster."
Noting the hill by the water tower that most runners found to be a bit of a beast, he liked the course overall.
"Running along the water was really cool," he said. "Madison Marathon ran around Lake Monona, and I just like running on the water. So having that full massive stretch right by Summerfest is really cool."
By the time he rejoined the half-marathoners to share the same course and finish the final five miles or so, Adriansen had become a bit of a celebrity with his marathon blue bib in a sea of red half-marathon bibs.
"Everyone was like, 'Oh my gosh, look at that dude,'" he said.
With a beautiful first-place medal, all he needs now is a name, image and likeness deal.
You must be registered for see images attach
Krista Staley wins the women's race
Krista Staley just needed to take a seat for a hot second.
Crossing the tape with a strong stride as the first woman in the marathon, Staley, of Ballwin, Missouri, was immediately surrounded by tons of running teammates and friends who came to support her.
Winning in 2:51:18, Staley cruised with a 6:33-minute mile, just narrowly edging out Mary Hanson of Milwaukee, who took second place.
This was a triumphant comeback. After her daughter was born, she raced Boston and then trained for two more marathons − but got sick both times. Pneumonia knocked her out of one marathon race and a ruptured ear drum the night before knocked her out of another. It had been two and a half years since Staley had done a marathon and her coach from her running team Spewak in Missouri recommended the Milwaukee Marathon for her next try.
"Coming to this start line, I just have the utmost gratitude, because I had two others taken away from me in the past," Staley said. "We vote every year for a spring and a fall marathon, and we all voted for this one.
"I knew nothing about the course or anything, but I trusted my coach who recommended that I do it. We trained for the course, and I loved it. I loved your course. And I could definitely see our team coming back for years to come."
With the lead, Staley started to hurt about two-thirds of the way into the marathon, but thinks she banked enough time from her strong start to maintain her lead until the end.
"I'm proud of myself, because yes, I did slow down, but it wasn't like I blew up," she said. "So I'm proud of that."
Race director Chip Hazewski believed this to be a somewhat fast and flat course, but even by Wisconsin's standards, the Milwaukee Marathon has some decent hills. By this Missourian's standards − it was OK as well.
"Looking at the course map elevation, " Staley said, "we were anticipating a really hilly race, and so that's what I trained for. But it wasn't that bad.
"It's a great course. I loved it. I actually really enjoyed going on that trail. I really liked that. And there was plenty of people cheering all throughout the race. Overall. I loved it.
"I never thought I would ever win a marathon. And my brother was here all over the course, taking photos, and him seeing me win, and the hug I shared with my coach afterwards, like those are the moments that I'm not going to forget."
The marathon was capped at 1,300 runners and, as of noon Saturday, there were no medical emergencies. Running under a sun-splashed blue sky, temperatures and conditions were perfect with light winds.
"We are excited to have delivered a great and safe event to the runners of Milwaukee," Hazsewski said, "and all those who traveled in."
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Marathon crowns winners Tony Adriansen, Krista Staley
Continue reading...
