SCRANTON — Dylan Gearinger checked off another box on his Scranton Half-Marathon to-do list.
Last year, it was to set the course record, which he did. This year, it was to become the event’s first three-time champion.
Which he did.
The Berwick native and former Marywood University coach who now lives in Philadelphia won the 12th annual race for the third time in four years. He handled rainy and cold conditions Sunday and covered the 13.1-mile course through the city’s streets and Lackawanna River Heritage trail in 1 hour, 8 minutes, 31.14 seconds. That was well off his mark of 1:04:28.21 from last year.
“I got it done,” Gearinger said. “I’ve got my two big accomplishments I wanted to get out of the way here.
“This is the closest thing to a hometown half-marathon that I have. I really like the community here, I like running through the neighborhoods. People here know me, so I get some cheers out there for Dylan. It’s a fun race. It’s a tough course, too, which I appreciate.”
Ciaran Fisher of Marian Heights, who trains with Gearinger, finished second in 1:09:51.52. Dallas’ Brandon Fleschut was third for the second straight year in 1:12:17.00. Cody Hodgins of Arlington, Virginia, was fourth in 1:12:51.44 and former North Pocono and Marywood standout David Haines of Madison Twp. rounded out the top five in 1:14:09.87.
Placing sixth overall was female champion Rachel Schilkowsky from Providence, Rhode Island, in 1:14:48.63. She, too, became a three-time winner, having also won in 2019 and 2023.
Carbondale native and former Holy Cross and University of Scranton standout Abby Corrigan was the second female across the finish line and 11th runner overall in 1:17:36.14. Six-time champ Heidi Peoples from Clarks Summit was the third female finisher in 1:25:47.78. Pittsburgh’s Julia Kocherzat was the fourth female in 1:27:25.57 and Dalton’s Jennifer Perry was the fifth female in 1:28:40.65.
Sunday’s weather reminded Gearinger of the 2022 race, which also was rainy and cold. He won that day, too.
At the start, four runners — Gearinger, Fisher, Fleschut and Haines — were side-by-side for the first two miles. Over the next two miles, Gearinger and Fisher pulled ahead of the other two runners. By Mile 5, Gearinger started putting distance between himself and Fisher.
“I ran with the lead pack for about five miles. Then I tried to make my move and went for it,” Gearinger said.
From there, it was just a matter of making it to the finish line.
“I just tried to keep it honest,” Gearinger said. “It definitely started to get a little hard with about three miles to go. But I knew I had a lead and I wasn’t going to run myself into the ground.”
After Gearinger pulled away from him, Fisher settled in and maintained the second spot. He wound up smashing his previous PR of 1:11:43 set last October at the Hartford Half-Marathon.
“When I saw Dylan pulling away, I tried to stay patient because I still had a lot of distance left to cover on the course,” Fisher said. “I was focusing on myself at that point.
“This was definitely a good time to PR, regardless of how bad the conditions were today. I wanted to get it done. I’m happy with how the race played out.”
Rounding out the top 10 overall finishers were Nate Barott of Syracuse, New York, in seventh (1:16:32.88); Ellis Aikey of Bloomsburg in eighth (1:17:04.31); Tyler Lundquist from Palmyra in ninth (1:17:12.21); and Archbald’s Nate Skrutski in 10th (1:17:16.04).
Female
Schilkowsky came into Sunday’s race thinking she might be able to run a PR. When she saw the weather conditions, however, she tempered her expectations.
Still, she led throughout and wound up running her second-fastest time; her PR came in her Scranton Half-Marathon win in 2019 in 1:14:36.
“So close,” Schilkowsky ...
