2 Olympians In One Local Race? [PHOTOS]

This was the first X-C (cross country) race that I covered since I moved to Lakewood. It's called the "Classic at Mastick" and takes place in the Mastick Woods part of the Cleveland Metroparks. This race is a biggie! with a limit of 600 runners. Both the men and women race 3.1 miles (5K) on a basically flat course on grass and a wooded trail.

I was introduced to Nils Antonio who ran the marathon for Jamaica in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and now essentially runs for fun. He used to coach at Lakewood and now lives in Rocky River. The other Olympian was a younger man who ran the 1500M in the recent Olympics in Rio and is the St. Edward HS track coach. Nate Brannen took the lead from the start and won easily with a huge lead over 2nd place.

This event is a sort of season opener for the local HS X-C teams who will be running in their official OHSAA races.

Photos by Alex Belisle — see more photos at Faces of Lakewood on Facebook, abelisle on Instagram and @FacesLakewoodOH on Twitter