Brewer Wins Ogden Newspapers Half Marathon Female Title
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WHEELING - After being the third woman through the finish line in last year's Ogden Newspapers Half Marathon Classic, Jenny Brewer reached the top spot in this year's race, claiming her place as women's champion with a time of 1:24:36.
"That's a tough course and it was a humid day," Brewer said. "But I absolutely love this course, it's hilly, it's tough, it's Wheeling."
Brewer had run the 13.1-mile Wheeling loop twice before, and this was her first time bringing home the gold.
The St. Marys native is an experienced runner.
"I've raced a lot of halves and fulls and I do a lot of trail races, so I race a lot this spring going into summer," Brewer said.
Brewer ran on the track team and cross country team at Alderson-Broaddus University.
Second among the women racers was last year's champion, Laurel Jefferson, who ran a 1:25:49.
In third was Wheeling native Beighley Ayers, a familiar name among distance running circles after a decorated tenure at Wheeling Park. Ayers has since moved out-of-state, but often came back for the Ogden Newspapers Wellness Weekend presented by WVU Medicine.
"I went to Eastern Kentucky University for my undergrad, so I moved to Kentucky," Ayers said. "I actually just graduated with my masters on Wednesday, three days ago, from Towson University which is in Maryland, so I've been living there for two years. But this is my home at heart.
"The last time I raced this was six years ago when I was a senior in high school, but I've come back every summer and I've cheered on my friends. I've been around this race my whole life. I remember watching this race when I was six, sitting on the curb eating donuts. I'd watched this race for many years, and this is my fourth time running it."
Making her return to the ranks of runners, Ayers was pleased with how she did.
"It feels really nice. I hadn't run it in many years because I was running collegiately and by the time it got to this point in the year I was pretty tired," Ayers said. "Since my eligibility was done, I decided last December that I was going to run this race. I was really excited, and I got to see so many people who I knew and who cheered for me. Seeing all these people that cheered for me and supported me my whole life just really warmed my heart. I had the biggest smile coming down the hill."
This was the best placement Ayers has attained yet, though it was far from easy.
"That was really hard," Ayers said with a laugh. "I don't remember it being that hard. I'm really happy that I placed where I did and I'm proud of everyone else because just completing this is amazing."