Crescent-News.com - Med student Ordway still finds time to hit road running

By LYNN GROLL

FAIRBORN -- Former Holgate High School graduate Josh Ordway has been a running machine over the years and recently added to his running accolades by capturing the Nationwide Better Health Columbus Marathon against stiff competition in October.

Although currently a third-year medical student at Wright State University, the 1999 Holgate graduate is still finding time to put in the miles and continues to excel at his craft.

Ordway's running and academic resume is full of accomplishments, including a 1998 Division III high school cross country championship. He went on to earn an Economics degree from Princeton University in 2003.

"If I have to be at the hospital at 6 a.m., I don't run in the morning because I just can't make myself get up before four," said Ordway. "If I don't have to be in until 7 a.m., I get up at 4:30 and go for a four to six mile run in the morning before coming in. Either way, I get home around 6 p.m. This is when I do my longer, harder runs.

"Of course now it's plenty dark when I start my runs, so it's hard to find lit places to run," added Ordway. "I usually just run around (Wright State) campus a few times. I do my best to gauge my paces and head home when I've spent the remainder of my energy for the day. I eat dinner around 8:30 p.m., possibly study or spend time with my fiancé, then make it to bed by 9:30 p.m. I get six to seven hours of sleep per night during the week ... the minimum with which I can function. I'll then sleep for 10 or so hours on the weekend to recharge and do a majority of my studying. Then, I start the process over again."

Ordway clocked a 2:23:03 to win the Columbus Marathon to slip past Kenya's Joshua Koros, who ran a 2:25:34.

"I signed up for Columbus believing that few enough really fast runners would show up that I would have a chance to win the race," said Ordway. "The morning of the race, I saw a large group of Kenyans warming up. I knew they had shown up to win the prize money that was offered and had doubts about my chances to snag my first marathon victory. As it turned out, though, I was the fastest athlete that day, and I was just ecstatic. A win at one of the larger marathons is a rarity, so it was a little unreal when I realized I had accomplished that goal of mine. That win will give me the confidence to go after the lead in other marathons and possibly another victory somewhere down the road."

Koros' fellow Kenyan Birhanu Zeleke paced the field at the 20-mile mark with a 32 second advantage over Koros and led Ordway by 40 seconds.

Zeleke cramped up at mile marker 23 and had to walk, and then overtook Koros in the final three miles to garner the $2,500 top prize.

"The marathon is such a fun distance because the race can completely change from the beginning to the end," explained Ordway. "From the start, I wanted to run my race, so I took it out fast. This was easy because the half marathoners started with us and were running a faster pace. Two Kenyans immediately followed behind me, allowing me to do all the work of setting the pace and blocking the wind. This continued for 11 miles. I was annoyed, but I was able to choose an honest, faster pace. At mile 12, the Kenyans who were behind me decided to surge ahead of me. I couldn't hold onto their pace and dropped back. Shortly thereafter, my parents yelled to me that I was in 4th place. Apparently, there was a Kenyan way up in front that I couldn't even see. That was discouraging. To be honest, I felt like giving up, but I kept running my pace to see what would happen later on. By mile 16, the lead Kenyan had dropped out, and I was 40 seconds behind the two Kenyans who had been behind me. At mile 19, I caught one of them and could see that the other one was falling back as well. At mile 23, I flew by the leader who was barely moving. A few minutes later I looked back and couldn't see either of them. From that point on, I pressed on alone to the finish. It was really nice having my parents and fiancé there for support. I doubt I would've been able to win without them."

Ordway also ran in the 2008 United States Olympic Trials and is hoping to rejoin the nation's best and improve upon his 21st-place finish at the Trials.

"I don't get to run as much as I'd like, but I've made a good compromise between running and studying," said Ordway. "In fact, sometimes I do both at the same time on the treadmill. Juggling them is hard, but if you want to accomplish something badly enough, you'll find a way to get it done.

"Right now the main running goal is to continue training at a high level," concluded Ordway. "Secondly, I'd like to improve my times, especially for the marathon, since it's my best distance. After placing 21st in the Olympic Trials a year ago, I'm eager to get back into a race with the nation's best marathoners and see what I can do. I just have to survive training through med school first."