Nicholas Barletta of Syracuse was the first person to cross the finish at Jewtraw Park, as he claimed the Half Marathon title with a time of 1 hour 17 minutes and 56.5 seconds.

Barletta is not a stranger to half marathons as he has completed around four, but he said the Lake Placid Marathon is the best one yet. He said he was expecting himself to run slower than he did, but he just kept up the pace until the end.

“I felt really good. At the start of the race I felt really in control,” Barletta said. “I felt steady and smooth, and that is what is really important if you’re going out and trying to run a race. You don’t wanna feel bad, obviously. I just felt really good and smooth.

“I was able to keep my pace pretty much throughout the entire race,” he continued. “Right around mile ten, my shoe became untied, which was brutal because I just kept thinking about it the entire way, but I just kept running through it.”

Nicholas Barletta of Syracuse crosses the Lake Placid Half Marathon finish line next to Jewtraw Park on Station street in Lake Placid on Sunday. Maya Garrison, left, and Logan Casey hold the ribbon. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

Barletta added that he didn’t expect the course to be as downhill as it was.

“I was training hills in Syracuse. We got hills all over the place,” Barletta said. “Knowing Lake Placid and the mountains, I was expecting more of the rolling hills, so I was training for that. It was more of a level course. I used the downhills. The one uphill wasn’t that bad.”

Behind Barletta was Matthew Deangelis of New York City and Dylan Cohen of Keene Valley to round out the top three.

Erin Rasco of Plattsburgh became the first woman to complete the Half Marathon with a time of 01:24:37.4. Much like Barletta, Rasco is experienced in half marathons. She said she’s done around seven.

“I did Ironman a few times and then I stopped and had two kids, and now I’m back to running,” Rasco said.

Erin Rasco, of Plattsburgh crosses the finish line as she becomes the Lake Placid Half Marathon female winner on Sunday. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

Rasco said that she wasn’t sure exactly if her time was a personal best, but she was glad the weather was perfect and the track was beautiful.

After many of the half marathon runners finished their run, Thomas Shafer of Malone came running through with a time of 02:49:56.5 to win the 26.2-mile Lake Placid marathon.

The race marked the first time Shafer had ever competed in a marathon before. He said he has been training for about 16 weeks and runs about 65 miles a week.

“It was a little faster than I thought. I was just shooting to get under three (hours),” Shafer said.

Twelve minutes after the three-hour mark, Rachel Jastrebsky of Holderness finished her run at the top of the women’s division. Jastrebsky’s official time was 03:12:55.2.

Racers get ready to run the Lake Placid Marathon as they stand at the start line on Parkside Drive in front of the beach house in Lake Placid on Sunday. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

Sunday marked the first time the Lake Placid Half Marathon and Marathon had been held since 2019. The race helps to raise money for local programs around the area.