Several area runners completed the 18th Annual 26.2-mile Steamtown Marathon that began at Forest City and finished in the heart of downtown Scranton on Sunday.

The top male finisher was Fred Joslyn of East Syracuse, N.Y., at 2:22:8, while the top female runner was Carol Jefferson of Schwenksville at 2:45:10.
Blue Ridge high school principal and cross country coach Matt Nebzydoski, 39, of Montrose, finished the marathon seven minutes faster than his time last year at 3:01:56 and in 79th place overall.

“It’s a unique event,” Nebzydoski said. “The marathon does a fantastic job with support and there are so many people along the route cheering you, it’s incredible. I’m pleased that I’m a bit faster than I was last year and was close to my goal of three hours, I’m hopeful that I can someday get there.”

Nebzydoski credits his cross country team and friends for keeping him so in shape. Bill Lewis, Fred Malloy, who also ran in the marathon, D.J. Spellman and Jerry Washo of Montrose have formed their own running group and often can be seen running before the sunrise.

“I never considered myself a runner but they said you might enjoy it,” Nebzydoski said. “Their encouragement and support has pushed me a long way. It’s hard to get up and run at five in the morning if you don’t have many friends,” he joked.

“Their support and encouragement is great,” Nebzydoski said. “I did some speed work with my runners and I would challenge them and it helped. It’s fun to have a similar experience.”

Shari Philmeck, 64, of Tunkhannock, knows a thing or two about running marathons, and has now competed in 29 of them after she crossed the finish line Sunday in the 1998th place.

“It was a great day and a beautiful day and I met a lot of nice people,” Philmeck said. “I didn’t know if this would be my last marathon or not, but next year I’ll try to do better. It’s a blessing to do these kinds of things.”

Philmeck has been running for about 25 years and has run in the Boston Marathon nine times.

“This is a different pace, but the pain is the same,” Philmeck joked Monday. “I used to train with a group of people but now there’s not too many people my age training at my speed so I just plod along and keep on keeping on.”

Philmeck’s daughter, Heather Dewees, who ran cross country for Tunkhannock Area in the early 1990s, also ran in the marathon and finished 355.

“She’s already done enjoying the refreshments and I’m still plowing along,” Philmeck joked.

Fleetville resident Vic Rosa, who works as an officer for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, was running in his 16th Steamtown Marathon and is happy he is able to have continued it for so long.

“I was looking around four hours for my time and got right around 4:10, which is perfectly fine,” Rosa said. “I run to complete the race and time isn’t always a factor for me. If I feel good I run faster, if I don’t I run slower.”

Rosa doesn’t follow a structural plan leading up to the race, but begins extending his mileage around the end of spring.

“Time is what’s important,” Rosa said. “Anyone that has work and a family, that’s the challenge for all of us.”

All three runners agreed that it was a beautiful day for the race, but the emergence of the sun in the latter part made the running a little harder.
And all agreed that the most challenging part of preparing for a race of this caliber is finding the time to do it.

There were 2,222 runners who crossed the starting line of the marathon, a race record. Only 56 of those runners did not cross the finish line.

Those in the marathon from our readership area area:
79-Matt Nebzydoski, 39, Montrose, 3:01:56; 158-Robert Damiano 36, Nicholson, 3:12:00; 218-Paul Fahey, 47, Dalton, 3:17:19; 276-Michael Green Sr., 52, Dalton, 3:22:19; 355-Heather Dewees, 40, Dallas, 3:27:30; 358-Ian Williams, 25, Falls, 3:27:39; 393-Raymond Mitchell, 51, Kingsley, 3:30:15; 472-Dominik Maida 20, Hallstead, 3:35:08; 475-Art Doolittle Jr., 46, Montrose, 3:35:29.

507-Fred Malloy 48, Montrose 3:38:24; 526-Ryan Andrews 46, Tunkhannock 3:38:56; 533-Nathan Mihal, 32, Dalton, 3:39:33; 632-Rovert Guzzi, 51, Dalton, 3:44:42; 651-Timothy O’Neill, 51, Great Bend, 3:46:03; 732-Noreen Inman, 32, Mehoopany, 3:50:15; 868-Darlene Gilpin 40, Dalton, 3:57:13;.
1056-Anothony Storc, 32, Tunkhannock, 4:06:05; 1090-William Steele, 44, Nicholson, 4:08:10; 1105-Jim Cook, 48, Nicholson, 4:09:13; 1131-Victor Rosa, 48, Fleetville, 4:10:32; 1138-Mark Fueshko, 54, Mehoopany, 4:10:46; 1162-Timothy Dougherty, 55, Forest City, 4:11:45; 1325-Thomas Meagher, 58, Nicholson, 4:41:09; 1346-Debbie Andre, 39, Montrose, 4:22:40; 1440-Kathleen Rogers, 48, Dalton, 4:28:39; 1442-Melanie Call, 39, Dalton, 4:28:39; 1445-Suzy Fueshko, 49, Mehoopany, 4:28:46; 1468-Ann Verbyla, 33, Tunkhannock, 4:29:45.

1508-Jason Westgate, 39, Forest City, 4:32:10; 1513-Paul Jones, 33, Factoryville, 4:32:13; 1530 Kristina Omark, 27, Tunkhannock, 4:33:15; 1736-Michael Perrotti, 37, Lake Winola, 4:49:28; 1764-Ken Layaou, 52, Mehoopany, 4:52:02; 1807-Doug Clark, 41, Monroe Twp., 4:55:39; 1817-Nicholas Newhart, 32, Factoryville, 4:56:31; 1852- Laura Kingston, 23, Tunkhannock, 5:01:25; 1916-James Staffaroni, 27, Factoryville, 5:09:17; 1934-Doreen Klinkel, 53, Dalton, 5:11:13; 1998-Shari Philmeck, 64, Tunkhannock, 5:20:16.

2040-Emily Holzman, 19, Dalton, 5:30:55; 2063-Tim Aikman, 62, Dalton, 5:35:13; 2106-David Burnis, 59, Forest City, 5:47:30.