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Marathon homecoming
By Brian Dzenis
YOUNGSTOWN
One couple is doing its part to help an Ohio marathon get off the ground and another athlete just wants a chance to come home.
There are three aspiring Olympians participating in Sunday’s first Youngstown Marathon. Boardman race-walker Micheal Mannozzi and Canton marathoners Tony Migliozzi and Sara Polatas are making the trip to Mill Creek Park. All three participated in the 2015 Olympic trials.
Mannozzi has spent the last few years training out of Clemson, S.C., and Toronto. The idea of coming home to Mill Creek Park where he used to train was too good to pass up.
“I’ll be going right past where I’ve spent years training before I was a member of Team USA — before I ever had a dream about success,” Mannozzi said. “It’s going to be a nice homecoming.”
Mannozzi will walk the park and said he’s been recovering from minor injuries, so he won’t be at full speed. He views the marathon as a chance to connect and reconnect with area runners.
“I’m sure I’ll see some familiar faces,” Mannozzi said. “For me, it’s just to enjoy the moment, to take it in. It’s an opportunity to be part of a Youngstown event.
“It’s something people have always talked about, but now it’s finally coming to fruition and I’m blessed to be able to come back and be apart of it,” he saidd.
Migliozzi and Polatas — both Malone graduates — are chasing a bid for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. In the trials, both didn’t finish, each dropping out 14 miles in.
“It was Los Angeles. It was 80 degrees at 10 a.m. I was coming from [an Ohio] winter and I had no heat training,” Migliozzi said.
Migliozzi christened the Canton Hall of Fame Marathon by winning it in 2014 and he won the first Akron Marathon in 2016. He has the same plan for Youngstown.
“I like to support the inaugural events and get them going,” Migliozzi said. “As for a time goal? I’ve never gone slower than [2 hours, 29 minutes] and I’ve ran about 15 marathons. As long as I keep it under 2:30, I’m cool.”
Migliozzi’s personal best is 2:17.27, which he earned in the Houston Marathon that put him in the Olympic trials. He does the majority of his training in Massilon, but said he does have experience running in Mill Creek Park.
“It’s difficult terrain, but it’s the best place to run. There isn’t a lot of traffic and it’s shaded,” Migliozzi said. “With [the marathon] in the morning, everything should be perfect — minus all those hills.”
Mannozzi thinks that come Sunday, it’ll be the park that is the real star.
“I’ve traveled around and I don’t think people realize what a gem Mill Creek Park is,” Mannozzi said. “A lot of people outside of Youngstown — and inside Youngstown — don’t realize what a green cathedral we have. People that aren’t from here are going to see a real beauty that we have.”