Kevin McDonnell, a Moorestown native and Camden Catholic graduate, ran 2:28.41 Sunday in his marathon debut.
The 32-year-old McDonnell, who ran for St. Joe’s and now lives in Cherry Hill, placed 61st out of 3,932 men in the Chevron Houston Marathon in Texas. He placed 16th out of 605 runners in the 30-34 age group.
McDonnell averaged 5:41 per mile over 26 miles, 385 yards.
He split 16:33, 16:38 and 16:38 for his first three 5Ks, then came through the half-marathon at 1:10.14. He ran 35:19 for 10K from 25K through 35K and 1:18.27 for the second half of the race.
In the spring of 2013, his final year at St. Joe’s, McDonnell ran PRs of 14:03.52 for 5,000 meters in Williamsburg, Va., and 29:16.01 for 10,000 meters in Lewisburg, Pa. That 29:16.01 at Bucknell broke a 31-year-old school record. The previous mark was 29:43.50 set in 1982 by John Crooke.
McDonnell’s last race and his longest previous official race according to his IAAF profile was the Philadelphia Half Marathon in November 2014, when he placed 18th in 1:09.25.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 