GREEN RIVER — Two Green River runners crossed the finish line first amongst both the men’s and women’s categories at the Run with the Horses Marathon on Saturday.
For the second year in a row, Patrick Balizan took 1st place in the marathon across all runners, and Julianne Forrester placed 1st in the women’s category this year and 5th overall.
“Patrick won last year and that was the first time that a Green River Resident had won the marathon,” Green River Chamber CEO Lisa Herrera said.
Balizan, who was entered in the Men’s 40-49 division, recorded an impressive time of 3:23:05.5.
“This year he beat his last year’s record,” Green River Chamber Office Manager Jesica Hunter said. “Last year he ran it in 3 hours, 33 minutes, and 51 seconds.”
Forrester was entered in the Women’s 30-39 division and recorded a time of 4:05:07.9. Hunter said Forrester is now the first local woman to win the women’s marathon. These times and finishes from Balizan and Forrester would be impressive on any year, but Hunter said this year’s races had the most participants across all races in the history of the Run with the Horses.
“The Run with the Horses set record numbers this year. Our biggest race was in 2021 with 155 runners. This year we had 160,” Hunter said.
Other Sweetwater County racers, with their places overall, included Michael Forrester (Green River- 8th), Israel Stewart (Rock Springs- 9th), Julie Seymour (Green River- 10th place), Jess Hoplin (Green River- 26th), Hayden Hopkin (Green River- 32nd), Annette Deakins (Green River- 35th), and Kyle Cox (Green River- 42nd).
To view the full marathon results, click here.
In the half marathon, Gudrid Espenscheid of Big Piney took 1st with a time of 1:51:20.7. Cheryl Brady was the top Sweetwater County finisher at fifth place overall recording a time of 2:08:55. Also from Green River, with their places overall, were Brenna Kirsch (7th) and Martha Walrath (8th), Harper Roderick (20th), Gary Killpack (30th), Carrie Fischer (34th), and Rob Fischer (35th).
From Rock Springs, with their places overall, were Andrea Urlacher (13th), Randy Goff (14th), Courtney Carter (23rd), Michael Kligerman (24th), Marisa Weddle (26th), Brandie Morrel (27th), Michele Long (40th), and Isaac Ratcliffe (42nd).
To view the full half marathon results, click here.
The 10K also had a lot of participants, which was stacked full of Sweetwater County residents. Finishing 1st in the 10K was Ethan Sholey of Rock Springs, with a time of 35:55.9. Eddie Carlson of Rock Springs came in 2nd with a time of 38:14.7. Coming in 3rd, also from Rock Springs, was Bryan Brooks with a time of 39:16.7.
To view the full 10K results, click here.
“We received a lot of very positive comments about the race. It is amazing to get to meet people from all over the United States and the world that come to Green River for the race,” Herrera said.
More Photos
To view more photos of the Run With The Horses Marathon, Half, and 10K, see below.
