Maricopa marathoners raise $14,000 for food bank

While many were anxiously awaiting a Cardinals vs. Eagles NFC divisional playoff game, 141 Maricopans were making their way from downtown Phoenix to Tempe in the P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Sunday.

The race, broken into two groups, had 34,800 half-marathon and marathon registered competitors, and 141 of that record setting number of runners came from Maricopa.

In the half-marathon, a 13.1-mile run, 119 participated. The top Maricopa finisher in the women’s division was Vanessa Estrada, finishing 301 with a time of 1:46:16. In the men’s division Ryan Mortensen clocked in with a time of 1:37:55, good enough to earn him 464 overall in the half-marathon.

“I had never participated in a marathon before so I was excited to get out there and see all the people,” said Mortensen. He added that he injured his knee in December training for the event, so he wasn’t able to train leading up to the marathon.

“I was surprised at how well I did,” Mortensen said.

While 119 participated in the half-marathon, only 22 participated in the full marathon, a 26.2-mile trek. The top finisher in the women’s division from Maricopa was Rhea Munge, finishing 152, while on the men’s side Tyson Tuttle finished 403.

Despite not finishing in top positions, some other Maricopans also participated in the annual event.

Community of Hope’s pastor Rusty Akers led a team of almost 40 Maricopa runners that included Maricopa Mayor Anthony Smith, his wife Nancy and Wendy Webb, director of the F.O.R. Maricopa food bank.

This group of 40, Team Chances, assembled as a group with the goal of raising $1,300 each to benefit the Maricopa food bank and Chances for Children, a non-profit program focusing on improving the quality of life for school-aged children by supporting sports and physical education programs. They were coached by winning marathon runner Susan Loken.

As a result of their fundraising efforts, the local food bank will receive about $14,000.

“We raised the money, we finished the marathon and we are alive to tell about it,” said Akers.

Photos courtesy of Rusty Akers