{"id":141995,"date":"2025-04-27T16:57:16","date_gmt":"2025-04-27T20:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=141995"},"modified":"2025-04-27T16:57:16","modified_gmt":"2025-04-27T20:57:16","slug":"lehigh-valley-natives-matt-gillette-and-olivia-hoeing-capture-2025-st-lukes-half-marathon-titles-in-41st-running-of-lehigh-valleys-most-beloved-distance-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=141995","title":{"rendered":"Lehigh Valley natives Matt Gillette and Olivia Hoeing capture 2025 St. Luke\u2019s Half Marathon titles in 41st running of Lehigh Valley\u2019s most beloved distance race"},"content":{"rendered":"

Half Marathon winners\u00a0 Matt Gillette and Olivia Hoeing (from left to right)\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Lehigh Valley natives Matt Gillette and Olivia Hoeing capture 2025 St. Luke\u2019s Half Marathon titles in 41st running of Lehigh Valley\u2019s most beloved distance race<\/p>\n

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (April 27, 2025) \u2013 In distance running, it doesn\u2019t get much closer than this.<\/p>\n

After 13 miles of running, Matt Gillette and Tudor Moldovan entered J. Birney Crum Stadium less than a second apart. Gillette pulled away in the final 300 meters for a gutsy three-second victory in 1:07:20. It was the 2009 Parkland High School graduate\u2019s first St. Luke\u2019s Half Marathon crown and redemption after having to withdraw with an injury at mile 10 in 2014, the last time he entered the race.<\/p>\n

Olivia Hoeing, 25, a 2020 Salisbury High School alumnus \u2013 won the women\u2019s race in 1:26:32, her first St. Luke\u2019s Half Marathon victory. She bested runner-up Riley Stauffer, 21, Allentown, by exactly one minute on a cool, cloudy and breezy morning.<\/p>\n

Gillette\u2019s and Moldovan\u2019s sub-1:08 times were aided by the cooler temperatures and their shoulder-to-shoulder proximity throughout the race. \u201cThe competition definitely made this a faster race,\u201d said Gillette, 33. \u201cWe were together the whole race. Without the competition, I would have been alone and wouldn\u2019t have pushed myself in the middle miles or closed that hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoeing, a DeSales University graduate student, said she was running in a pack containing other female competitors until she hit the Lehigh Parkway section of the course at about mile 6.5. Growing up in Allentown and Salisbury Township, she said felt at comfortable on the Parkway\u2019s gravel trails and was able to pull away. \u201cI love the Parkway, it\u2019s my home,\u201d she said. \u201cAt that point, I knew we were nearing the end of the race and I realized that there was a chance I could get to the front of the pack. It\u2019s a little bit of a home-field advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2024 St. Luke\u2019s Half Marathon and companion 5k saw over 1,900 entrants racing through Allentown\u2019s streets and parks. Both races started at 18th and Linden streets near William Allen High School and ended at J. Birney Crum Stadium.\u00a0Sundays\u2019 races were preceded on Saturday by the St. Luke\u2019s Youth Run, which saw more than 850 children aged 3-14 running in Lehigh Parkway.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe competition all weekend showed us the true spirit of running, whether you\u2019re neck-and-neck with a fellow runner or just pushing yourself beyond what you thought was possible,\u201d said Leslie Billowitch, co-race director and president of the Lehigh Valley Road Runners, which produces the fully volunteer-run event each April. \u201cToday, every runner has a reason to celebrate.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2025 event, the 41st running of the half marathon, marks the 15th year of title sponsorship for St. Luke\u2019s University Health Network. The event has raised over $800,000 to promote running and fitness programs for youth and adults in the greater Lehigh Valley. \u201cWe have an amazing running community here,\u201d Billowitch said. \u201cWith the support of St. Luke\u2019s, we\u2019re grateful that we can give back to the sport that gives us so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Top 5 males\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Matt Gillette, 33, Allentown, Pa., 1:07:20<\/p>\n

Tudor Moldovan, 40, Allentown, PA, 1:07:23<\/p>\n

Ryan James, 27, Clifton Heights, N.J., 1:09:23<\/p>\n

Trevor Conde, 35, Bethlehem, PA, 1:11:26<\/p>\n

Adam Kurtz, 25, Center Valley, PA, 1:16:15<\/p>\n

Top 5 females\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Olivia Hoeing, 25, Allentown, Pa., 1:26:32<\/p>\n

Riley Stauffer, 21, Allentown, Pa., 1:27:32<\/p>\n

Lauren Cancelliere, 33, Nazareth, Pa., 1:29:02<\/p>\n

Molly Breidenbaugh, 29, Bethlehem, Pa., 1:29:44<\/p>\n

Maria Davis, 30, Bethlehem, Pa., 1:32:07<\/p>\n

Complete St. Luke\u2019s Half Marathon results:\u00a0https:\/\/runsignup.com\/Race\/Results\/11383#resultSetId-545077<\/a><\/p>\n

Complete St. Luke\u2019s Half Marathon awards:\u00a0https:\/\/d368g9lw5ileu7.cloudfront.net\/races\/results_crml3py07gnwmkyolxnfveyxzcex.txt<\/a><\/p>\n

A field of 515 racers took part in the St. Luke\u2019s 5K. Danny Lyons, 16, Easton, Pa., won the men\u2019s race in 17:32. Andrea Stevko, 31, Northampton, Pa., was the top female in 19:16.<\/p>\n

Men\u2019s 5k winners<\/strong><\/p>\n

Danny Lyons, 16, Easton, Pa., 17:32<\/p>\n

Mark Ayres, 40, Quakertown, Pa., 18:44<\/p>\n

Adalberto Torres, 49, Allentown, Pa., 18:53<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s 5k winners:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Andrea Stevko, 31, Northampton, Pa., 19:16<\/p>\n

Maraleen Shields, 46, Allentown, Pa., 20:58<\/p>\n

Liliana Michalska, 13, Easton, Pa., 21:17<\/p>\n

St. Luke\u2019s 5k overall results:\u00a0https:\/\/runsignup.com\/Race\/Results\/11383#resultSetId-545098<\/a><\/p>\n

St. Luke\u2019s 5k awards:\u00a0https:\/\/d368g9lw5ileu7.cloudfront.net\/races\/results_ijbummuuprqksgqvyughjwu1bu0y.txt<\/a><\/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 cancellations in 2020 and 2021.<\/p>\n

Information & images provided to TVL by:<\/strong>
\nMichael Drabenstott\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Half Marathon winners\u00a0 Matt Gillette and Olivia Hoeing (from left to right)\u00a0 Lehigh Valley natives Matt Gillette and Olivia Hoeing capture 2025 St. Luke\u2019s Half Marathon titles in 41st running … Continue reading Lehigh Valley natives Matt Gillette and Olivia Hoeing capture 2025 St. Luke\u2019s Half Marathon titles in 41st running of Lehigh Valley\u2019s most beloved distance race<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141996,"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":[5716,5717,69,482],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-141995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-allentown","category-bethlehem","category-in-the-valley","category-press-release-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/sluhn-5k-winners.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141995"}],"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=141995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141995\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/141996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=141995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=141995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=141995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}