Nearly 700 Runners Race In Cheap Marathon In New Hampshire

WINDHAM, NH — Sunday's Cheap Marathon was the first marathon of the year in New England and featured nearly 700 racers — including 109 who have times that qualify them for the Boston Marathon.

The race, normally held in Salisbury, Massachusetts, was moved to Derry and Windham rail trail, due to COVID-19 restrictions in Massachusetts. The runners ran either full or half marathons and raised money for the Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester, the Friends of Derry Rail Trail Alliance, and Windham Rail Trail Alliance, according to John Mortimer of Millennium Running in Bedford.

"I think the athletes have been training through COVID-19 without a lot of racing experiences and have been eager to get to the starting line," he said. "This is one of the few opportunities they have had in over a year to do that.

The women's winner for the full marathon was Courtney Hawkins of Hollis who clocked in at 2:53:08.

"It felt great," she said. "I just wanted to have fun. I had a blast."

Sarah Heisner of Centerville, MA, came in second, about five and a half minutes behind Hawkins. Hawkins was one of 41 athletes that finished under three hours.

The men's full marathon winner was Erik Hinrichsen of Newton, MA, who finished at 2:28:57.

"I really wanted to break 2:30 today and I got it," he said.

Jason Griffiths of Plymouth came in second at 2:30:51.

According to Mortimer, 109 of the 285 full marathon finishers ran times that will qualify them for the Boston Marathon with more than 400 people finishing the half marathon.

The men's half-marathon winner was Samuel Fazioli of Salem who had a time of 1:08:07. In the women's division, Megan Boucher of Manchester came in first with a time of 1:19:08.

Millennium Running, Mortimer said, has created a safe, sustainable model that has enabled over 14,000 runners to hit the pavement in various in-person racing events since June 2020.

Full results are available here.

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