By Shannon Russell
The Cincinnati Enquirer

T.J. Lentz, winner of the the Humana Heart Mini Marathon 15K run with a time of 47:38. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

T.J. Lentz wasn't about to let anything stop him from winning the 15K Humana Heart Mini-Marathon Sunday morning at Fountain Square.

Including the 10-mile race he ran the day before.

Lentz competed Saturday in the country's fourth largest 10-mile men's road race - the USA Men's 10 Mile Championship in Louisville - and marked his homecoming Sunday with a 47:39 first-place finish in the Mini-Marathon.

The 15K race is the marquee event of the Mini-Marathon, which celebrated its 26th year with a record 13,000 participants in the 5K Heart Run, 15K Mini-Marathon, 5K and 10K HeartWalks and 2K Kids' Heart Mini-MaraFun.

Despite lingering aches and pains, Lentz took the lead a half-mile out and cruised to his first Mini-Marathon title. Second-place finisher Jay Dolmage was 1:28 behind at 49:07.

"I don't get much of a chance to win races in Cincinnati," said Lentz, a 12-year Cincinnati resident. "When the No. 1 and 2 guys decide they're going to sit out, it's a good opportunity for me."

Those guys, four-time reigning champion John Sence and last year's third-place winner, Henry Dennis, opted to enter the 10 Mile Championship only. A late-week injury prevented Sence from competing, but Lentz and Dennis matched strides most of Saturday's race. Dennis finished the Louisville race in ninth place, Lentz 17th.

"Good for him," Dennis said after Lentz won Sunday. "I don't know how he was able to hit his stride today. Those guys really hammered me (Saturday)."

Lentz's time was 30 seconds slower than last year, a figure he attributes to Sence's absence. Normally he's fighting to keep up with Sence, with whom he often trains.

"He's always someone I key off of, so it was a little different. But it was really exciting to run from the front," Lentz said.

Lentz said the 30-degree weather and wind pockets made the course more challenging than usual. The route began at Fountain Square with a Delta Avenue turnaround on Columbia Parkway.

Jill Tranter, who won the women's 15K for the fourth straight year, this time in 56:58, agreed the race was difficult because of wind.

The day's most chilly weather greeted participants in the first race, but 17-year-old Rob Grote wasn't shivering when he won his second straight 5K HeartRun in 16:15.

"The wind was brutal going out there. I thought it would be better on the way back, but it was blowing hard on the final stretch," Grote said.

The Batesville High School junior improved his course time by 18 seconds. Grote runs cross country and track at the Southeast Indiana school, and was 19th in the boys' state cross country meet this year.

The event is Cincinnati's biggest drive to raise money for the American Heart Association's heart disease and stroke research.

Race director John Lonneman, a six-year volunteer and survivor of quadruple-bypass surgery, said the Mini-Marathon is a chance for people to share an experience and learn more about heart disease and stroke awareness.

"Since heart disease is the number one killer in this country, and stroke is the number one debilatator, it's important to raise consciousness about them," Lonneman said.

The races capped two days of Mini-Marathon festivities. The Millennium Hotel hosted a Fitness Clinic from 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Saturday.

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