The Champion Next Door Show

Will Cadwell - Covington, Kentucky

Will set his marathon personal best of 2:21:23 at the 2022 Bayshore Marathon. A month before that, he ran 2:28:11 at the Flying Pig Marathon. In 2021, Will won the Nashville Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in 2:26:45.

Will is from South Haven, Michig...

Spencer Mahon - Cleveland, Ohio

Spencer ran for North Royalton High School and Baldwin Wallace University. He graduated in 2019 with a personal best of 32:01 for 10,000m. After college, Spencer improved his PR to 31:55 and then ran 2:31:21 in his marathon debut (Columbus, 2019)...

Becki Spellman - Columbus, Ohio

Becki Spellman grew up in Northeast Ohio and ran the 800m/mile at the University of Akron. After college, she moved up in distance - her personal bests include a 1:14 half and 2:40 marathon.

Becki qualified for four Olympic Trials (...

Sakiko Minagawa - Columbus, Ohio

In Sakiko's first three marathons she ran an OTQ, ran in the Olympic Trials, and won the Columbus Marathon (2:41:12). She grew up in Dublin, Ohio and attended Dublin City Schools. She started running in middle school, and focused on the 4x800m and 3,200m in high school. Sakiko was a walk-on at Ohio State where she ran the second-fastest 10,000m in school history (34:27). She has a Masters i...

Jesse Davis - Indianapolis, Indiana

Jesse is a 2:17 marathoner, 65-minute half marathoner, and 2-time US Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier (2012, 2016). He is also a 2-time member of Team USA (World 50K and World 100K) and US National Champion (100K). Jesse is training for the 2021 Indianapolis Monumental Half and plans to race in the USATF Club Cross-Country Championships this December.

Follow Jesse:

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William Schrantz - Gaylord, Michigan

Will grew up in Cincinnati and now lives and trains in Michigan. He is a member of Cincinnatus Elite and ran for the club team at Iowa State. Will improved his marathon time from 2:48:28 at Boston in 2018 to 2:31:56 at CIM in 2019. He recently ran a PR of 1:10:21 in the London OH half marathon. Will is racing the Chicago Marathon this fall and plans to continue chasing the Olympic Trial...

Nickie Luse - Dayton, Ohio

Nickie is a professional triathlete and former NCAA DI soccer player. Nickie began training for her first Ironman while working full-time as a nurse. Along the way she developed a team to support her journey as an athlete, and now works as a manager and buyer at Up and Running. Nickie has a special story about overcoming adversity, and is one of the toughest competitors in our community!

Fo...

Charles Rodeheffer - Dayton, Ohio

Charles ran 30:30 at the Minster 10K last October, 2:32:02 at the Old Glory Invitational Marathon in November, and recently ran 1:06:54 for the half marathon in Greenville, South Carolina. He is completing his Masters Degree and coaching Cross-Country and Track at Wittenberg University where he was a fou...

Verrelle Wyatt - Akron, Ohio

Verrelle ran a 1:06 half marathon, a 2:24 marathon, and a 2:57 road 50K. He finished 2nd in the 2017 Akron Marathon and became the Akron Marathon Race Director in February 2020. Verrelle is a Physical Therapist and the owner of Physio Balance & Sports Performance. He was an all-state runner for Copley High School in Akron and received a scholarship to run for Campbell University in North Caroli...

Evan Gaynor - Perrysburg, Ohio

Evan ran 2:17:29 at Grandma's Marathon in 2019 to qualify for his second US Olympic Marathon Trials. He also qualified for the 2016 Trials by running 1:04:44 at the 2016 Jacksonville Half Marathon. Evan was a state cross-country champion in high school and a five-time All-American at Malone University. He won the Glass City Marathon twice and plans to run his hometown race again this year.

Amy Robillard - Cincinnati, Ohio

Amy ran 2:43:51 in the 2019 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon to qualify for her second Olympic Trials. She also qualified for the 2016 Trials after running 2:44:12 in Houston. Running is Amy's second sport; she swam collegiately for the University of Arizona and was nationally ranked in high school. Her first road race was the 2002 Chicago Marathon where she ran 3:07:57, and she has won the...

Jake McCubbin - Dayton, Ohio

Jake ran 2:35:53 at the 2018 Marine Corps Marathon just a few weeks after winning the Air Force Marathon with a 12-minute PR in 2:35:57. He also ran 1:11:38 at the 2019 Indy Mini Half. Jake has 11 years of service in the US Air Force and deployed while running cross-country and track for Wright State University. He has steadily improved his marathon results since 2014 and continues to train and...

Matt Lemon - Dayton, Ohio

Matt ran 2:19:14 at the 2019 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon narrowly missing the Olympic Trials standard. He followed that by winning Dave's Turkey Chase 5K in Toledo (14:34), and then ran the 2020 Houston Marathon in 2:24:33. He's run a 1:10 half marathon pushing a baby stroller, and has a half marathon PR of 1:06:16. Recently he ran 31:21 at the Minster Oktoberfest 10K and finished 3rd in the ...

JT Mackay - Cincinnati, Ohio

JT ran 2:33:04 in his marathon debut at the Old Glory Invitational Marathon on November 1st. He also ran 31:01 at the Minster Oktoberfest 10K. JT ran cross-country and track at Mississippi State where he ran 14:48 for 5K and was 1st Team Academic All-American. He now runs for the Cincinnati-based elite team Cincinnatus Elite.

Follow JT:

• Instagram @jtrademark
• Twitter @jtrademark
...

Julie Mercado - Dayton, Ohio

Julie ran 2:53:14 in Houston this year at age 46, which was only her third marathon and her first since running Boston at age 26. She also ran 1:22:01 in November at Indy during her buildup to attempt to qualify for the Olympic Trials Marathon. Julie was an All-American in cross-country, indoor and outdoor track at Hillsdale College and now runs for Runners Plus Elite. She recently finished as ...

Jeff Coudron - Dayton, Ohio

Jeff has raced over 40 marathons and runs Speedy Feet, a race timing and management company based in Dayton. He has run Boston in his 20's, 30's, and 40's, and has completed multiple Ironman triathlons. He talks about timing the Minster Oktoberfest Classic 10K, one of the area's premier races, and his approach to competing as a life-long athlete.

Follow Jeff:

• Speedy Feet Races
• Sp...

Katie Ruhlman - Dayton, Ohio

Katie ran in the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon after qualifying with a 2:44:15 at the 2020 Houston Marathon. Houston was Katie's third attempt to qualify after running Columbus (2:53:58) and Indianapolis (2:46:34) in late 2019. Katie ran sprints, hurdles, and middle distance at Cedarville University, where she holds the school record in the 4x200m relay.

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Dustin Sprague - Dayton, Ohio

Dustin ran 2:23:00 (4th Overall) at the 2019 Columbus Marathon at age 44. It was his 17th marathon since he began running competitively at age 37. In the Fall of 2019, Dustin also ran 32:19 for 10K (Minster Oktoberfest Classic), 25:14 for five miles (Miamisburg Turkey Trot), 52:27 for ten miles (Fall Festival 10 Mile), and 1:10:45 for the Half (River Corridor Classic). He is entered to run Bos...

Chris Lemon - Dayton, Ohio

Chris ran 2:18:06 in the 2015 Chicago Marathon (16th Overall, 7th American) and ran in the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon. He has run a 1:05:38 half marathon and a 29:21 10K. Chris ran for the University of Dayton where he ranks #1 all-time in the 5,000m (14:22.1), 10,000m (29:46.3), 10K Cross-Country (30:31), and 8K (24:05).

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