Columbus Marathon Race from dan farkas on Vimeo.

We also have a video recap narrated by Carrie Tollefson, a member of the 2004 Summer Olympic team. Tollefson ran in college at Villanova University and won the 1997 NCAA Cross Country Championships and the 1999 NCAA Outdoor and Indoor 3000 meters and Outdoor 5000 meters. At the US Olympic Trials in 2004, she won the 1500 meters. Here she is, reporting from the Nationwide Better Health Columbus Marathon:

And, that’s a wrap on the 2010 Nationwide Better Health Columbus Marathon. For the fourth year in a row, an Ohioan bested a field of 5,000 marathoners. In his debut marathon, Jason Ordway of Bellbrook, OH took the grand prize and met his goal of qualifying for the Olympic Trials in 2:18:08. In the female marathon race, Elena Kaledina of Russia ran a dominating race to win in 2:44:20 – more than five minutes ahead of the second place finisher. Other results include:

• An event record was set in both 1/2 Marathon events. Kiprotich Kitui of Santa Fe, NM broke the event record with a time of 1:03:30. Last year’s 1/2 Marathon winner, Daniel Kipkoech, placed 2nd in a time of 1:04:18.
• In the female 1/2 Marathon race, Allison Grace of Columbus, OH broke the event record with a time of 1:14:20 in her debut 1/2 marathon. Mariska Kramer of the Netherlands came in 2nd with a time of 1:14:42.
• In the third year of the hand cycling division, Dane Pilon of Fayetteville, NC, broke the course record he set last year at the Nationwide Better Health Columbus Marathon with a time of 1:10:47. Chad Johnson of Charlestown, IN placed first in the wheelchair division in 1:49:17.

After crossing the finish line, marathon participants reunited with friends and family in Celebration Village, where they were invited to cool down, grab some nourishment, enjoy the perfect weather and bask in their accomplishments. All of us at the Nationwide Better Health Columbus Marathon are very proud of this year’s field!

Thanks to the hard work of nearly 2,000 volunteers, the 2010 Columbus Marathon was a huge success. We’ll post a video recap soon, but in the meantime, here are a few photos from the day:

Running, walking and wheeling, 15,000 marathoners (and half-marathoners) crossed the Nationwide Better Health Columbus Marathon start line at approximately 7:30 a.m.

Thank you to all our marathon sponsors who make this event possible, especially: Nationwide Better Health, Toyota, Athletic Club of Columbus, Ohio National Guard, Gatorade Endurance, MegaMind and OSU Hospital East.

This year, the Nationwide Better Health Columbus Marathon has used Facebook, Twitter and the blog – among other things – to connect with marathoners, volunteers and supporters leading up to the big day. And, now that marathon weekend is upon us, we want to help you use social media to stay connected, whether you’re in town or keeping tabs on the race from a distance.

To Track Marathoners’ Progress:

• We will post a link on Sunday so anyone can track your progress through the website.
• If you’ve signed up for TweetMyTime, a Twitter app, your progress will be automatically tweeted to your followers at five different points throughout the marathon: start, 10K, ½ marathon, 20K and finish.

Getting Social

We’ll be using social media to share the marathon experience throughout the day. Here’s how you can follow along and join in the conversations:

• On Twitter, follow our Twitter account, @CbusMarathon, as well as the hashtag #cbusmarathon. We’ll be live-tweeting from the marathon and responding to as many comments/questions throughout the weekend as possible.
• On Facebook, become a fan of our page. We’ll be posting photos from the  course, as well as updates and behind-the-scenes info that you won’t want to miss.
• Throughout the day, we’ll update the blog with video, photos and announcements from the finish line.
• Attending the marathon? Don’t forget to check-in on Foursquare. We’ll create a special Columbus Marathon location for the event.

Last but not least, you’re invited to our first-ever tweetup, Saturday, Oct. 16 from 9-10 a.m. (A tweetup is just a good excuse for online connections to meet up in real life!). We’ll host this informal get-together at the Nationwide Better Health Columbus Marathon Expo. Look for us near the finish line tape. See you there!