Cary’s Michelle Lagan wins another race at City of Oaks Marathon

The Raleigh City of Oaks Marathon places tables at the finish line that are stockpiled with medals to present to runners completing the marathon, half-marathon and 10K.

Cary’s Michelle Lagan, a U.S. Olympics trials marathon qualifier, opted this year to run the Rex Healthcare Half-Marathon and collected her third, first-place medal to go with previous victories in the marathon and 10K.

“I’ve won the Triple Crown,” Lagan said. “I’ve love running in Raleigh. There are a lot of people cheering on the course.”

Lagan, 32, won last year’s marathon with a course-record time of 2:39:20 to earn a qualifying berth in the 2016 USA Track and Field Olympic marathon trials on Feb. 13, in Los Angeles. Her race distances are limited leading up to the big day.

“This is kind of a tune-up,” Lagan said. “It’s such an honor to be healthy and have a chance to compete in the Olympic trials.”

Lagan’s half-marathon winning time of 1:18:15 was 12th overall. Charlotte’s Jesse McEntire was one of only 11 men ahead of her in 1:10:03.

The ninth annual event drew 4,064 runners with a 50-degree temperature at the start. Both the men’s and women’s marathon champions took home $1,000 with their first City of Oaks victory after previous runner-up finishes.

Caleb Masland, 34, of Boone, N.C. won the men’s race in 2:34:33. He was second in 2013 and intended to compete last year until an injury sidelined him.

“I’ll take a win any day – however I can get it,” Masland said. “You’ve got to run the people and the course of that day.”

This year he started fast and ran most of the race on his own after Tim Surface’s hamstring injury, which he had been nursing, acted up. The City of Oaks veteran from Raleigh, who won the marathon in 2007 and 2012, placed second in 2:38:53. Durham’s Victor Ornelas was third in 2:40:31.

Shawanna White, 35, of Columbia, S.C., claimed the women’s title in 3:01.29. She was the runner-up in 2012 with a time of 2:52.38, but she wasn’t complaining about the slower time. She had hip surgery in 2013 and was happy to be competing and claim her third career marathon victory.

“I’ll take first place anytime,” White said. “I love this race.”

Meredith Bazemore of Chapel Hill second in 3:12:38 and Amanda Knapp of Youngsville was third in 3:12.55.

This story was originally published November 1, 2015 at 9:05 PM with the headline "Cary’s Michelle Lagan wins another race at City of Oaks Marathon."