Richard Cohen became part of history this weekend at the Inaugural Turning Stone Races. The 40-year attorney from Utica captured the first Turning Stone Half Marathon title with a winning time of 1:18:20 on Sunday at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, N.Y.

“This was a first class race all the way,” said Cohen. “Since it was a new race, I had no idea what to expect. Beautiful race.”

He trailed runner-up J. Matthew Medeiros (1:20:06) early on, but was able to take over the lead at the nine-mile mark and never looked back.

“I went out at a slow pace my first three miles and then began to pick it up. That was my game plan…to ease into the race,” said Cohen. “Once I passed him (Medeiros), I just tried to stay steady the rest of the race and not look back.”

Karen Dolge, 41, of Valatie, N.Y. took the women’s title in the 13.1-mile race in a winning time of 1:31:45. The president of Kinderhook running club was pleased with her performance.

“I am doing a fall marathon so this was a nice training run for me,” said Dolge. “It felt good to win this one. I ran a little slower than I would have liked, but I wasn’t too far off from what I was hoping for today. I also I ran on the road named after my family (Scholtz Road), which was great. Many of my family members were on the course cheering me on. It was great race.”
She was also thrilled to be greeted at the finish by members of Vernon –Verona-Sherrill High School running club, one of the organizations that volunteered at the Turning Stone Races.

“I graduated from V-V-S,” said Dolge. It was great to have so many people (from V-V-S)
involved with the race.”
Christian Iverson, 24, originally signed up for the Turning Stone Half Marathon, but dropped down to the 10k when he arrived at Turning Stone Sunday morning. The move proved to be worthwhile. He won the 10k with a time 41:34.

“I’m thrilled,” said Iverson, a native of Anchorage Alaska, who is working on his Ph.D. at Syracuse University. “I had a foot injury and wasn’t sure how I was going to do. It bothered me early on, but I was fortunate that it loosened up. I felt great out there.”

Bethany Williams, 30, of Holland Patent, N.Y. was the first female to cross the finish line in the 10k race and took her first title of the summer. Her winning time was 48:51.

“Every time I get home from a race my 5 1/2 year-old son asks if I won. Now I can finally say ‘yes,’“ said Williams.

The inaugural Turning Stone Races kicked off on Friday with a 5k. Steve Spittler, who entered the race as a tune up for his upcoming cross country season at Bentley College, captured the 3.1 mile run with a winning time of 17:59, just two seconds ahead of runner-up Nicholas Ashton of Whitesboro.

“Great race and a beautiful course,” said Spittler. “Since it was the first race here I didn’t really know what to expect or what the competition would be like. I am leaving for school (Saturday) so I just wanted to get in a run before I left.”

The same was true for Fayetteville’s Meaghan Anklin. She, too, wanted to get in a race before she headed back to Boston College where she will be a junior this fall. Her training run proved to be good enough for a victory as she crossed the finish line first among the women in 20:15.

“I haven’t done a race all summer. I wanted to get my legs moving,” she said. “It felt good out there. This was a great race.”