Camden Catholic graduate Kevin McDonnell ran 2:17.22 at the Chicago Marathon Sunday morning and qualified for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.
McDonnell, a former St. Joe’s runner from Moorestown now living in Cherry Hill, ran 38 seconds under the qualifying standard of 2:18.00 with a cutoff date of Dec. 5. He placed 32nd out of an estimated 45,000 entrants and was the 15th U.S. runner across the line.
McDonnell’s time is 36 seconds off the South Jersey alumni record of 2:16.46 set at the 1980 Boston Marathon by Moorestown graduate Paul Friedman and he bumped legendary Herb Lorenz for the No. 2 spot. Lorenz ran 2:17.44 in 1975 at Boston.
He ran his 5Ks in 16:31, 16:10, 16:26, 16:06, 16:01, 16:02, 16:08 and 16:31 with the final 1.34 miles in 7:27. So he ran the 12.4 miles from 15K to 35K in 1:04:17.
McDonnell’s previous marathon PR was a 2:28.43 at the Houston Marathon in January of 2022. But he ran 1:07.26 last month to win the Philly Half. He’s the South Jersey alumni record holder at 10,000 meters with a 29:16.01 in Lewisburg, Pa., in 2013.
Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum won the race in 2:00.35. breaking the world record of 2:01.09, set by Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge in Berlin in September 2022.
Conner Mantz, the 2020 and 2021 NCAA cross country champ for BYU, was the top American in 6th place in 2:07.47, 4th-fastest ever by an American.
The fastest all-time New Jersey marathoner is North Hunterdon graduate Matt McDonald, who is No. 24 in U.S. history with his 2:09.49 in Chicago last year.
The U.S. Marathon Trials are scheduled for noon on Feb. 3, 2024, in Orlando, Fla.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 