Columbus Marathon: Record time? Probably not
Almost three decades later, history says that Tommy Persson more than likely will go to sleep again tonight in Sweden with the record time for the Columbus Marathon.
Persson won the inaugural event in 1980 in 2 hours, 11 minutes and 2 seconds and never returned for a 26-mile, 385-yard rematch. Nobody ever has run the mostly flat, if somewhat altered, Columbus course in a better time.
But a race isn’t a race until somebody crosses the finish line. Persson was the seventh seed in ‘80 when he completed the fastest marathon of his career. Top-seeded Ron Tabb dropped out after 10 miles with a sore heel.
Of the elite male runners in the 30th edition of the marathon, Richard Kessio of Kenya will bring a 2:15 personal best to the Downtown starting line at 7:30 a.m. today.
