MARQUETTE – On a hot, humid Saturday morning, 311 runners converged on the Upper Peninsula for the Marquette Marathon and a chance to clinch a spot in the Boston Marathon.

In the end, it was Nate Hoffman of downstate South Haven who battled through the heat and crossed the finish line first. Hoffman finished the 26.2-mile race with a time of 2:36:53.4.

“It was a great race,” he said. “My PR is 2:35:04 and that was in Duluth (Minn.) two or three years ago.

I’m definitely happy with my effort. I caught that guy behind me with three-quarters of a mile left, so it was close.

“This is my first time running this race and it’s a nice course. The worst part was the finish,” he added.

“(The sun was beating down on the runners during the final few miles), but this was a great experience and a great memory for me,” he added.

Hoffman was followed by Richardo Alvarez of Danville, Ill. at 2:38:40.1 and Naseen Rayyan of Ypsilanti at 2:42:17.3.

Mike Messina of downstate Sterling Heights finished fourth with a time of 2:43:04.8. Messina had taken some time off from running marathons and was pleased with his finish.

“That course was a lot tougher than I thought and my goal was to finish in the top five,” he said. “The heat was hard, but I got a PR by five minutes, so I’m happy with that.

“I haven’t run a marathon since 2009, so it was nice to get back out there again. This was a beautiful race. You don’t get views like this in Detroit.”

Patrick Russell of St. Paul, Minn., rounded out the top five at 2:47:10.0. and was joined by his daughter, Charlotte, on the final stretch on Third Street in Marquette.

Russell was originally from the U.P. and was glad to be back in the area.

“We used to live in Houghton for three years and we haven’t been back since we moved, so we decided to take a long weekend up here,” he said. “This is my first time running the marathon here and it’s also my first race in two or three years.

“I haven’t gotten to run with my daughter before, so that was fun to finish the race with her.”

Neal Collick of Negaunee was the top male U.P. finisher. He took 13th with a time of 3:03:29.2.

On the women’s side, Elizabeth Whiting of Manchester, N.H., was the first to cross the line with a time of 3:01:00.7.

“It’s my fourth time winning and I’ve won it three out of the five previous races,” she said. “I knew this race got a lot faster, so I was just hoping to be competitive.

“I used to live in the area, so I have a lot of friends here and it was nice to be back.”

Christina Carradine of Marquette was the top overall U.P. finisher as she finished second at 3:08:26.2. She was followed by Janet Becker of downstate Rockford, who took third at 3:10:49.2.

Katie McDevitt of Colorado Springs, Colo., took fourth with a time of 3:14:45.2, while Melanie Bicigo of Marquette finished fifth at 3:16:19.2.

In the 13.1-mile half-marathon, there were several good times from U.P. competitors.

Three Marquette men finished in the top five. Daniel Dehlin took first at 1:13:48.4, while Jacob Winkler finished third at 1:23:43.9 and Andrew Kangas took fifth at 1:26:05.7.

Matt Gill of Downers Grove, Ill., finished second (1:20:24.3) and Tim Becker of downstate Fowler took fourth (1:25:50.1).

On the female side of the bracket, four of the top five were from the U.P. After Melissa Burkart of Hudson, Wis., took first at 1:19:19.8, Lindsey Dehlin (1:27:10.9) and Kimberly Legalley (1:31:19.0), both of Marquette, finished second and third respectively.

Jennifer Mathias-Sundberg (1:36:48.4) and Julie Jacobetti (1:37:26.5) both of Ishpeming, took fourth and fifth, respectively.

Ryan Stieg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 246. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.