Gillette, Meneses Win Fox Valley Marathon

It was a great morning of running in the Fox River Valley Sunday as Justin Gillette and Vanessa Meneses won the Advocate Dreyer Fox Valley Marathon, which starts and finishes in St. Charles. Gillette, 29, of Goshen, IN, won by more than 10 minutes with a race record 2:31:34. According to the marathon staff, this was Gillette's 51st all-time marathon victory and 14th this year! The distant second-place runner was Gregory Maves, 25, who finished in 2:41:52. Third male was Steve Nusser, 43, who "mastered" the course in a very nice 2:49:36. Meneses, 27, of Peoria, won the women's competition in 3:03:46, also an event record. Second was Hailey Kryston, 20, in 3:14:58, and third went to Samantha Vander Heyden, 28, in 3:15:41. There were 1,060 finishers in the main event. There also was a 20-mile and a half-marathon. Both were well-attended.