DEWAYNE HOLLOWAY|dewayne@mcnews.online
Runners faced foggy conditions Saturday as 87 competitors took to the trails in the 2021 LOVIT Marathon. Nick Lewis of Little Rock claimed the victory in the marathon, while Brian Sites also of Little Rock claimed the top spot in the half marathon.
Both courses start and finish at Shangri-La Resort with runners traversing either 26.2 miles in the marathon, or 14 miles in the half marathon. The course winds along the LOViT Trail in the Ouachita National Forest.
Nick Lewis of Little Rock won the 2021 LOVIT Marathon with a time of 3:53:48. Russell Gartner of Fayetteville finished second with a time of 4:32:39.
Bee Miller of Russellville was the top female runner and third overall runner with a time of 4:34.
Blake Miley of McCrory finished fourth (4:46), and Dustin Hyman of Benton finished fifth (4:53)
Laura Kearns of Little Rock finished second among female runners and sixth overall with a time of 5:11, followed by Tammy Melugin of Hot Springs (5:12) and Erika Ashley of Conway (5:12:47).
Matt Jay of Hot Springs finished in ninth place with a time of 5:13 with Kenny Garner of Bryant and Brett Nguyen of Fort Smith sharing 10th place with a time of 5:19.
There were 48 runners who completed the course. Darin Sanders of Hot Springs was the oldest competitor in the marathon at age 70. She finished the course in 8:22. Russell Gartner of Fayetteville was the youngest.
Brian Sites of Little Rock won the half marathon with a time of 2:18:26. Erin Lytle of Little Rock was the first woman to finish the course and second overall fastest runner with a time of 2:37:15.
Kenneth Myers of Little Rock finished third overall with a time of 2:37:48, followed by Jessica Soroka of Hot Springs who finished in 2:39. Thomas Duddy of Shreveport. Louisiana rounded out the Top Five with a time of 2:48.
There were 36 competitors who completed the half marathon. Jesse Rucker of Malvern was the oldest participant at age 74. He finished the course in 3:54. Sydney Shackleford of Little Rock was the youngest at age 29. She finished the course in 3:36.
Two runners ran a 10K.
Complete results can be found at www.runarkansas.com/results/LOViT2021
