Cleveland man takes top honors at Findlay ultra marathon

FINDLAY — A Cleveland man won the Flag City Backyard Ultra Marathon held earlier this month at the larger Findlay reservoir. Quinn Auten was declared the winner. The race started at 8 a.m. Oct. 5 and concluded at 3 a.m. Oct. 6. Auten was named the winner after running 19 laps, or 81.7 miles. This is the second time he has competed in the event. This year's race focused on the Flag City theme with over 100 American flags on display. A total of 46 runners — including 32 males and 14 females — competed. The temperature ranged from 77 degrees to 50 degrees on race day. During the marathon, the winner could only run one more lap than the person who finished before them. This person is said to have assisted the winner. In this case, Austin Brougher of Florida provided the assist to Auten and finished 18 laps, or 77.4 miles. Runners completed a combined 251 laps, or 1,079.3 miles, during the race. The median laps completed was 4, while the average number of laps completed was 5.46. Entry was free and each runner received a free T-shirt. Eight volunteers helped on race day. There were also 22 sponsors. This is the third year for the backyard marathon. The 2022 winner ran 10 laps, while last year's top runner completed 13 laps.