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Kenston graduate wins inaugural Canton Marathon
(by Tony Lange - June 27, 2012)
Kenston graduate wins inaugural Canton Marathon
By TONY LANGE
Practice not only makes perfect, but it also brings marathon titles along the way.
Justin Baum, once the leader among Kenston distance runners, found fame elsewhere last week as he jaunted 26.2 miles to a first-place finish at Canton's inaugural marathon -- a race he was using as practice, he said.
"I was planning on running it just as a race in preparation for another bigger race down the road," the 2004 Kenston High School graduate said. "It was pretty cool to actually win it, though, just because it is kind of like my hometown in a sense, because I went to Malone and now I live just south of Canton."
Baum was using the Canton Marathon as a stepping stone for the St. Jude Memphis Marathon in December, he said.
A 2008 Malone University graduate with a degree in middle childhood education, Baum now lives in Magnolia, where he teaches fifth grade math and science at Sandy Valley Elementary School.
After his victorious 2:37.53 Canton Marathon, Baum didn't expect all the attention that he got, including a front-page photo on the daily newspaper there and invites to local radio shows, he said.
"It's been pretty awesome and pretty unexpected too, because I definitely went in wanting to win that marathon, but I didn't think it was going to explode like it did," Baum said. "Monday morning I walked into a Giant Eagle to pick up some papers, because I figured it would have something in there, and I turned the corner and saw the Repository, and I was like, 'Oh, God,'" he said.
"So it's been pretty cool, especially in this area. Sandy Valley is definitely small, so I feel like a local celebrity down here. It kind of puts Magnolia on the map," he said about the 1,000-person town. "Not many people hear about it."
While at Kenston, Baum earned first-team All-Ohio honors his sophomore year after finishing sixth at the Division II state cross-country meet in 2001, when he ran five kilometers in 15:58.
"It was kind of like a breakthrough season when I was sixth in the state in cross country," he said. "That was pretty big. Not many moments can top that."
Baum was just one of two non-senior runners to finish in the top 14 that season and was a favorite to contend for a state title as a junior until a large Division I shadow loomed over the Bombers the following season.
He did not place his junior year but took 14th overall as a senior in Division I.
During his track and field career in Bombers' blue and red, Baum placed 12th in the 1,600-meter run at the Division II state meet as a freshman, 11th in the 3,200-meter run at the Division I state meet as a junior and ninth overall in that event as a senior.
Until this May, Baum held Kenston's school record in the 1,600 run at 4:22.7.
Upcoming Kenston senior Owen Norley bettered that mark just this season and now holds the record at 4:18.79, which he set during his fifth-place Division I state performance.
Baum also is third on Kenston's all-time list in the 3,200 run with a time of 9:30.54.
Dan Franek, 9:26.07, and Tom Franek, 9:06.2, still hold the top two marks, which they set in the early 1980s.
As a head cross-country coach for the boys and girls high school teams at Sandy Valley, Baum said he still keeps in touch with Kenston head coach Chris Ickes, who was his coach at Kenston Middle School.
"I actually was at the state meet watching the Kenston team this year, and I had an athlete of mine running the two mile there," Baum said. "But, yeah, I keep pretty close tabs on them. I talk to Chris Ickes a lot. We talk training and see how each of our teams is doing."
At Malone, Baum earned All-American honors for the 10,000 meters in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics in 2007 during his junior track and field season. He placed fifth in the NAIA championships that year.
During his senior year, Malone won the NAIA national championship in cross country. It was the second national title for the Pioneers with the other coming in 1972.
As a teacher and coach, Baum said he is no longer a full-time athlete but hopes to make a U.S. Olympic Trials marathon cut someday and perhaps run longer races, like the Burning River 100-mile endurance run that routes through Cleveland and Akron suburbs. The marathon cut for the trials is 2:19.00.
"The standard gets harder and harder," Baum said. "I definitely think I have the capability of it. The possibility is there, especially in the marathon when you can peak later on. I know a lot of people in their mid- to late 30s. I definitely have time, so I think it would be a good goal to go after."
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