10/19/2025

The Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus Marathon

Columbus, Ohio.

George McFall

Finish Time:  3:20:48

Overall Place:  427th Place / 4090

Division Place:  8th Place / 108

Race Recap By George McFall:

This was my 3rd time doing this marathon. I love the energy of this city. The rain did not deter spectators from showing up on the race course to cheer on the participants. The volunteers were awesome.
The race start was delayed by 15 minutes. It was unrelated to the weather. Even though the weather wasn’t ideal, I still managed to run a good race. I actually don’t mind running in the rain. Once I got through the congestion in the first mile, I found my lane and settled in. My goal was to stay in the 7:25-7:30 pace range. I was there for 16 of the first 18 miles. After mile 18, my splits were 8:10, 7:46, 7:38, 7:39, 7:52, 8:04, 8:07, 7:55 and 6:48 on last 1/2 mile.
The finishing stretch was electrifying.. the crowd cheered loudly for us all the way to the finish line at North Bank Park. I ended up with a time of 3:20:48 (7:40 overall pace) and placed 8th in my age group. My time was 1 minute over what I ran in Buffalo back in May. I was so happy! The weather made it very challenging but I didn’t let that get to me. One mile at a time.
The icing on the cake was that I got another BQ. This time around, I should be in. I move into the 55-59 age group for Boston 2027 which has a qualifying time of 3:30. I currently have a 9:12 buffer. Fingers crossed that is enough.
Congrats to everyone who crossed another finish line in Columbus.