Jesseman wins Hartford in personal best 2:38:08, hits US Olympic Trials "B" qualifying mark
(Erica Jesseman ran 2:38:08 to win the Hartford Marathon on Saturday- photo bu Kevin Morris)
Scarborough resident, and former Red Storm & UNH standout Erica Jesseman ran a personal best 2:38:08 to win the Hartford Mararthon on Saturday. The win was Erica's second win in three attempts at Hartford, she also won in 2011. Jesseman, 24, qualified for the 2016 US Olympic marathon trials with her time which met the "B" standard of 2:43 by close to 5 minutes, she was just of the "A" standard of 2:37.
The race on Saturday was her 5th career mararthon, 2 of them have resulted in Olympic trials qualifying marks. Back in 2011 her Hartford win qualified her for the 2012 trials, where she was the youngest competitor.
Jesseman followed eventual runner-up Hilary Dionne for the first half of the race as the pace was aggressive, sub 6:00 minute pace. Erica civered the first 13.1 miles in 1:18:12, a 5:59 pace per mile. She would increase her pace over the next 7 miles as she went through 20 miles in 1:59:11, a 5:58 pace per mile. The next 10k the fast early pace slow Jesseman a little, but not enough to stop her from almost a 6 minute personal best, an a 6:04 per mile average.
(Jesseman is all smiles post race as she catches her breath- photo by Kevin Morris)