First time Wineglass Marathon runners reflect on experience

CORNING, N.Y. ( WETM ) — The Wineglass Marathon sees thousands of runners in the half and full marathon races including people traveling long distances to participate for the first time.

First-time Wineglass Marathon runner Christopher Foroglou came from Montreal, Canada with a running group of twenty people. Foroglou, who ran in the half marathon, says he enjoyed the experience and felt the course was nice to run on. “The camaraderie here was great. I chatted with a few runners during my race, and just pushing each other to go faster,” Foroglou said.

Full marathon participant Dennis Mbelenzi, drove from Toronto to run for the first time in the Wineglass Marathon and finished in the top ten. He talked about pacing oneself to overcome the mental and physical challenges of the remaining miles.

“The biggest challenge is always the distance, and that’s why I think we say you have to respect it,” said Mbelenzi. “You go through halfway and you have to always pace yourself, and you’re thinking, ‘Hold back early on,’ and then anywhere after 30k, maybe 20 miles, that’s halfway in terms of effort, and the last 10k, 6 miles, you are going to have to summon everything you have, and that’s what everyone does.”

Anel Martinez, who traveled from the Bronx borough of New York City to participate in the half marathon with a group of eight runners, appreciated the support from the crowd and the help from high school students and volunteers.

“It was exactly what I expected. The support was very nice, seeing people out there cheering us on throughout the entire course was very nice,” said Martinez.

To see the list of the marathon results, click here .

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