{"id":117771,"date":"2023-04-23T14:43:37","date_gmt":"2023-04-23T18:43:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=117771"},"modified":"2023-04-23T14:50:09","modified_gmt":"2023-04-23T18:50:09","slug":"shea-rebounds-to-win-her-fifth-st-lukes-half-marathon-bethlehem-man-and-st-lukes-employee-takes-mens-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=117771","title":{"rendered":"Shea rebounds to win her fifth St. Luke\u2019s Half Marathon; Bethlehem man (and St. Luke\u2019s employee) takes men\u2019s title"},"content":{"rendered":"

ALLENTOWN (April 23, 2023) \u2013 Six months ago, Carly Shea could barely run a mile, but today she was crowned five-time champion of the St. Luke\u2019s Half Marathon. Shea joined first-time men\u2019s champion Corey Mullins, Bethlehem, Pa., on the winner\u2019s platform in the 38th<\/sup>\u00a0running of the race on a beautiful spring morning in Allentown.<\/p>\n

Shea, 44, Lewisburg, Pa., said she had not raced a half marathon since March 2022 and had only started racing again in January 2023 \u2013 and nothing longer than 5k — after having two surgeries on an artery in her hip flexor area in summer 2022. \u201cI had blood clots that cut down circulation in my left leg and I literally couldn\u2019t run,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve been building back since the most recent surgery in October. I\u2019m very happy with how things went today and grateful that I\u2019m racing again and that my leg is seemingly healthy. I don\u2019t take it for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shea (1:22:45) won the 13.1-mile road race in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. Her fifth title ties her with Kathleen Jobes as the most decorated female runner in the race\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

Mullins, 25, Bethlehem, Pa. captured the men\u2019s title in 1:10:53. A videographer for St. Luke\u2019s University Health Network, the presenting sponsor of the race, Mullins finished fourth in 2022 with a time of 1:14:37, his St. Luke\u2019s Half Marathon debut. Mullins graduated from Muhlenberg College, which is only two blocks from the finish line in J. Birney Crum Stadium.<\/p>\n

Mullins said he led from the start and enjoyed the support from spectators and other runners. \u201cOnce you make the turn (at about mile 4.5) on Martin Luther King, Jr., Boulevard, runners going the other way are cheering and saying \u2018Good job!\u2019,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m aware to some extent that I\u2019m a talent runner, but it\u2019s people who pick up running and they\u2019re not naturally gifted but they do it anyways, that\u2019s super inspiring to me. I felt it spectating at the Boston Marathon last week and I feel it here, too. People are out to have fun and exercise \u2013 that\u2019s why I love road races.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2023 St. Luke\u2019s Half Marathon and companion 5k saw nearly 2,200 entrants, about 10 percent more than 2022, first year back after a two-year COVID-19 hiatus. Plentiful sunshine and temperatures in the high 50s and low 60s greeted runners. Both races started near William Allen High School and ended at J. Birney Crum Stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are honored to put on a race of this caliber with a beautiful course, over 10 live bands and a stadium finish to truly celebrate the spirit of running,\u201d said Leslie Billowitch, race director and president of the Lehigh Valley Road Runners, which produces the fully volunteer-run event each April. \u201cIt\u2019s inspiring to see people of all ages and sizes put their minds and bodies to the test \u2013 and to see the joy of accomplishment when they cross the finish line.\u201d<\/p>\n

Top 5 females<\/p>\n

Carly Shea, 44, Lewisburg, Pa. 1:22:52<\/p>\n

Liz Wright, 31, State College, Pa., 1:23:19<\/p>\n

Katy Storti, 22, Cinnaminson, N.J. 1:23:25<\/p>\n

Lauren Cancelliere, 31, Nazareth, Pa. 1:25:00<\/p>\n

Jodi Patterson, 21, Aliquippa, Pa.\u00a0\u00a01:27:17<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Top 5 males<\/p>\n

Corey Mullins, 25, Bethlehem, Pa., 1:11:01<\/p>\n

Daniel Christiansen, 28, Bally, Pa., 1:11:54<\/p>\n

David Plotkin, 33, Beverly, Mass. 1:15:41<\/p>\n

Garrett Campbell, 22, State College, Paa, 1:16:43<\/p>\n

Zack Mitarotonda, 20, Ashburn, Va.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01:17:00<\/p>\n

Complete half marathon awards:\u00a0https:\/\/d368g9lw5ileu7.cloudfront.net\/races\/results_xlezthm8wdph42dkpxutzpvar4ym.txt<\/a><\/p>\n

Complete half marathon results:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/runsignup.com\/Race\/Results\/11383?customResultsPageId=61894<\/a><\/p>\n

A total of 537 runners \u2013 the most since 2015 — took part in the St. Luke\u2019s 5K. John Mikovits, Danielsville, Pa., won the men\u2019s race in 17:08. Anabelle Broadbent, Perkasie, Pa., was the top female in 21:20<\/p>\n

5k awards:\u00a0https:\/\/d368g9lw5ileu7.cloudfront.net\/races\/results_lao2nt7blw5gbifsjsvjoeeenilq.txt<\/a><\/p>\n

5k results:\u00a0https:\/\/runsignup.com\/Race\/Results\/11383?customResultsPageId=61856<\/a><\/p>\n

The St. Luke\u2019s race weekend also featured the St. Luke\u2019s Youth Run on Saturday, April 22, in Allentown\u2019s Little Lehigh Parkway which featured over 400 youngsters aged 4-13. Race proceeds support community fitness and youth running efforts in the Lehigh Valley.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One of the oldest half marathons in the country, the St. Luke\u2019s Half Marathon had its origin in 1977 with a full marathon organized by the Lehigh Valley Athletic Association, a predecessor to the LVRR. It was switched to a half marathon in 1984 and has been run continuously every spring except for a canceled race in 1996 and COVID-19 cancelations in 2020 and 2021.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The half marathon course records are held by John Kagwe, 1:04:49 (March 26, 1995) and Anne Marie Lauck, 1:15:49 (March 15, 1998).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Information provided to TVL by:
\nMichael Drabenstott (for GEDP)
\nDrabenstott Communications Group<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ALLENTOWN (April 23, 2023) \u2013 Six months ago, Carly Shea could barely run a mile, but today she was crowned five-time champion of the St. Luke\u2019s Half Marathon. Shea joined … Continue reading Shea rebounds to win her fifth St. Luke\u2019s Half Marathon; Bethlehem man (and St. Luke\u2019s employee) takes men\u2019s title<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":117772,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5716,69,482],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-allentown","category-in-the-valley","category-press-release-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/st-lukes-running.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117771"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=117771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117771\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/117772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=117771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=117771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=117771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}