Mars' Edinger repeats as men's 5-mile champ in Butler Road Race
Winning at the Butler Road Race for the third time fits in with Nick Edinger's grand plan.
The 2009 Mars High School graduate led from start to finish in the men's five-mile race at the 42nd annual event Saturday morning, finishing in a time of 26 minutes, 20 seconds.
Butler's Noah Beveridge, 17, was second with a finish of 27:11.
Edinger, 25, who recently moved back to Mars after living in Ohio, also won here in 2013 and 2016. He became the first male to win the five-mile race in back-to-back years since Jake Kildoo accomplished the feat in 2010-11.
Edinger owns five school records at Geneva College and has a dream of qualifying for the trials for the 2020 Summer Olympics, to be held in Tokyo.
“Starting this September, you can earn a spot in the trials,” he said. “I will be running in the Chicago Marathon in October and will try to qualify then. Right now, it's all about trying to get more sponsors and everything is working out well.”
Edinger competed in last year's Indianapolis Marathon and placed third. He took part in last month's Pittsburgh Marathon for the first time, placing 10th overall and fifth among American men.
He turned in an effort of 25:25 in winning here last year.
“I don't really focus on time when I come here,” Edinger said. “It's a tough course and I am just getting back into shape after running in Pittsburgh. I took a decent break after that.”
Slippery Rock's Gar Bercury, 43, won the Master's Men division while Butler's Vern Morrow, 54, took the Grand Master's Men title.
