Monday, September 22, 2014
By Greg Gulas
YOUNGSTOWN
While attending a conference this past week in Pittsburgh, North Jackson native and current Oakland, Calif., resident Alicia Rozum was talked into extending her stay by her brother, John, hoping that she would consider participating in the first Steelathlon.
The fact the Covelli Centre was playing host to a beer festival the night before only added to her reasoning to remain home.
Rozum easily outdistanced her nearest competitor by almost four minutes, finishing the course in 27:12.43 to capture the female portion of the inaugural Urban Adventure Run competition.
Youngstown’s Matt Harrold was the overall winner with a 24:24.69 clocking.
“I feel like I’ve gotten the very best of Youngstown the last two days. The beer festival was fun last night and today’s race was an absolutely great experience,” Rozum said. “The course was challenging, especially YSU’s Stambaugh Stadium steps. This was the first-ever competition of this sort for me, so I found most everything on the course to be a challenge.”
Her brother said that being a wrestler while at Jackson-Milton High School helped him prepare.
“I competed in the Hubbard Burner two weeks ago and if I wasn’t a wrestler or work out at Jump Stretch, I would not have been as prepared as I was for the course,” John Rozum said. “Alicia is definitely in better shape than me and we both cannot wait until next year’s competition.”
Jim Johnstone of Boardman, who competes in half-marathons and usually runs four days a week while training, finished second overall to Harrold in a time of 25:08.69.
“A competition like this definitely helps your training regimen. While it was challenging, it was also a blast yet overall. It really takes a lot out of you,” Johnstone said. “Any time you place, it makes you feel great and today I feel tremendous. It boosts your self-esteem and just makes you want to train harder.”
Leotina Foley of Fairfax finished second in the women’s division, closing at 31:01.38.
“Being short, the hay barrels were my biggest challenge. The course overall was a real challenge and even as I cool down my legs are still shaking,” Foley said.
Jared Hideg of Liberty led a group of 12 Youngstown State ROTC Cadets into competition.
“We do whatever we can for the city because the city always gives back to us,” Hideg said. “We want to be visible and with the many veterans and YSU alums in the area, this is our way of showing support for a great cause.”
Monies raised are earmarked for the Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley.
Warren’s Ian Zimora, a client advisor for the Rescue Mission, participated along with Matt Summerville of Pittsburgh and John Woods of Struthers. Both are members of the Rescue Mission’s one-year Discipleship Academy.
“Events like this and especially the help and assistance we receive from outside donors enables us to equip our area and continue to help those that are less fortunate,” Zimora saud. “[Race founder and coordinator] Erin Mellinger’s help has been a real blessing for all of us.”
Summerville and Woods appreciated the opportunity to take part.
“This is my first attempt at something like this and all I expect to do is finish, which I did,” Woods said.
“We are representing our fellow brethren from the Discipleship Academy, so it is important for all three of us to have a good showing,” Summerville said.
Canfield’s Phyllis Schaab was a first-time participant.
“All I want to do is finish and not make a fool of myself. My husband, David, does all the tri-athlons and my son Ty and his friend Andrew DeRosa wanted to take part so this was just a great opportunity for me to finally participate,” she said.
Getting healthy was the motivation for Dave Zagorsky of Struthers.
“I just started to walk this past year and the motivation for me is to not only get healthy, but remain healthy. It was two years ago today that my sister Pam passed away and that just added to my motivation to take part,” Zagorsky said. “I know that she was with me every step along the way.”
Julianne Sandora, who is dating Zagorsky’s son, Dave, Jr., participated in order to lend moral support to the elder Zagorsky. She took part in the Cook Forest River Ride on Saturday.
“I’m a runner and do bike rides — I am not tired at all,” Sandora said. “I wanted to be here for moral support for Dave.”
Mellinger said the Steelathlon was the culmination of two years of planning.
“We had 145 participants and there were 145 smiles out there in the end, so mission accomplished,” Mellinger said. “We had plenty of help and assistance from the city of Youngstown and YSU, so now we turn our focus to next year and must start planning for an even better showing.”