Arlington’s favorite endurance runner Michael Wardian continued his recent running dominance, this time winning the Run for the Red Marathon on Sunday in Stroudsburg, Pa.
Upon entering Ross-Stulgaits Stadium, the Arlington native pumped his fists and waved to the crowd en route to overall title.
At the outset, Wardian dueled with inaugural winner Solomon Too, who is a Kenyan native, but lives in Milford, N.J. Wardian also ran with 2007 winner Justin Gillette, of Niles, Mich.
Too took an early lead, separating himself from Wardian and Gillette at the six-mile marker. He led for the majority of the race, but eventually fell to third after upon entering the stadium.
At the 20-mile mark, Wardian outkicked both Too and Gillette, and finished in 2:23.24. Finishing with a brutal 5:28-split, he beat Gillette by 2:41.
It was the 34-year-old’s third first-place marathon finish this season. He also recently won the Mad City 100K in Madison, Wis. and USA 50K championships in March.
The only other Arlington runner was 30-year-old Kendra Liebert, who finished as the female’s third overall finisher. With a 3:07:34-second time, she was almost 15 minutes behind top-female finisher Jennifer Malavolta, a 37-year-old New Jersey native.
Runners came from all surrounding states plus Florida, Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, Texas, West Virginia, Colorado, New Mexico and Georgia. The third annual marathon benefitted the local Red Cross.