On a cold and damp Sunday morning, 1,382 runners hit the streets of Princeton to participate in the annual HiTOPS Princeton Half Marathon. Runners also had the option of participating in a “virtual race” and running on their own due to the pandemic.
The event raises money for HiTOPS, the Princeton-based nonprofit that provides youth-informed sex education and LGBTQ+ support for young people throughout New Jersey.
Valentyna Veretska, an elite runner from Ukraine who is currently living in Staten Island, came in third place overall and took first place in the women’s race with a time of 1:18:04. The world-class runner set a course record for women on Sunday. She was one of 559 women who ran in person.
Caroline Kellner, 28, of Ewing took second place in the women’s race with a time of 1:19:57. Sarah Walker, 29, of Princeton came in third place with a time of 1:23:38.
Kanato Goto, a 33-yer-old postdoctoral research fellow in physics at Princeton University, was the overall winner of the race, with a time of 1:11:06. Goto ran a 5:25 mile pace. He was one of 819 men to participate in the race in person.
Jack Anderson, 22, of Durham, North Carolina came in second with a time of 1:17:26. Vadim Aksenov, 41, of Toronto came in third place for the men with a time of 1:18:13.
In the non-binary category, Amy Read, 28, of Pennington took first place with a time of 1:52:01. Mark Hinchliffe, 39, of Princeton took second place with a time of 2:08:42, and Britt Lang, 31, of Ewing took third place with a time of 2:30:22.
For the 14 and under boys’ race, Bastian Bocklage of Princeton took first place, Sebastian Gandolfo of Belle Mead came in second place, and Evan Raphael of Princeton came in third place.
In the 14 and under girls’ race, Margaret Massengill of Yardley, Pa. took first place. Sophie Robertson of Princeton took second place, and Anna Miskow of Skillman took third place.
For the girls 15-19 category, Catalina Posada of Princeton took first place, Claire Brockman of Kentfield, Calif. took second place, and Sophia Lehmann of Belle Mead took third place.
In the boys 15-19 category, Terran Chow of Pennington took first place, John Ramirez of Port Chester, New York took second place, and Chris Dziuba of Somerset took third place.
The oldest runner participating in the race was Edward Leydon of New Hope. The 78-year-old took first place in the men’s 75-79 category. Kathy Fedorko, 75, of Hopewell took first place in the same category for the women’s race.
Anika Saran, age 12, of Skillman was the youngest runner participating in the race.
For the full list of award winners by age category, visit the race awards page online.
For complete results, visit the race results page online.
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Krystal Knapp is the founding editor of Planet Princeton. Follow her on Twitter @krystalknapp. She can be reached via email at editor AT planetprinceton.com. Send all letters to the editor and press releases to that email address.