Ben Schneider wins 10th straight Paavo, wife Candice takes 5th title

HURLEY - Ben Schneider came into Saturday's race with a discrete, even human, bib number of 178, rather than the traditional No. 1 for the defending champion.

Schneider, a nine-time defending champion coming in, maybe even felt a bit human just this once, battling an Achilles problem at Saturday's 47th annual Paavo Nurmi Marathon.

It certainly didn't help the competition any, though.

Schneider, 31, of Minneapolis, won the marathon in 2:42:30. Sure, it was his second-slowest Paavo winning time, but it was his 10th straight Paavo victory. And his margin of victory Saturday neared 17 minutes.

"That one hurt," he said.

His wife, Candice, 30, joined him with a first-place finish in the women's marathon for the fifth year in a row, her time of 3:14:32 improving on her mark of the last couple of years as a hamstring injury finally cleared up.

Ben's injury isn't serious enough for surgery, he just needed to take some time off from running earlier this year. Out of all the 10 victories in Wisconsin's oldest marathon, this is the worst injury he's had to deal with.

"I've been pretty lucky with injuries so I guess just law of averages with injuries is coming in. It's just one of those years where I'm just a little beat up," he said. "I started out the race without a ton of confidence, just knowing you're coming in a little hobbled. The hills were a little tough on it. I figured if I just tried to keep at a pace that I felt was manageable, I could get through it."

That turned out to be true, but the effects started early in the marathon.

"My heel just started hurting a couple miles in and just sort of ached throughout," Ben said. "I think it might have altered my stride a little bit because I was starting to cramp up in my right quad a little bit. Or maybe it was just because it was hot out. One-hundred minutes of pain, no worse than a day of work, right?"

Ben's decade of Paavo dominance is unmatched. The next closest male, Joe Perske, won seven overall, but not more than three in a row. Rick Stefanovic won four in a row in the early 2000s.

For Schneider, it's 10 in a row and he's only 31. His family, which has a cabin at Whitecap Mountain, continues to follow him to the Paavo.

Ben's first Paavo was in 2005 when he finished fifth. But in 2006, he beat defending champion Michael Benchina by nearly 49 seconds. He didn't expect to win then, he sure didn't expect to win 10 in a row, but now people expect to see Ben cross the finish line first.

He may have been hard to spot at times along the course Saturday. He didn't have the No. 1 bib (no one did because of a purchase error) and the traditional police escort was with the five-person relay front-runner until midway through County C.

"Very exciting, it was great to have a lot of family up here, and throughout the years, too," Ben said. "I feel real lucky to have the streak going this long."

Candice's streak is impressive as well.

Her five straight marathon wins puts her third in Paavo women's history. Ann Heaslett of Madison won eight in a row from 2001 to 2008. Mary Bange won seven in a row beginning in 1978 and eight overall.

Candice finished Saturday's marathon in 3:14:32, her best time here since her best Paavo mark of 3:10:12 in 2012.

She had hoped for a better time this year, closer to the 3:10 range, but she was still happy with beating the 3:15 finishes of the last two years.

"I went out too hard," Candice said. "I saw this girl I thought was in the marathon; she was running pretty fast. I probably could have went out a little easier and felt a little better, but it's all right. I'm happy with (my time), for sure. I'm not usually in my peak marathon shape at this time, so I'm happy with it."

It's difficult to get in the best shape for an August race with the heat and humidity of the middle of summer to train through and then deal with on race day.

She now has a handful of Paavo titles, but winning it doesn't get old.

"I love it, I love the Paavo course, it's just really challenging," Candice said. "You can't be super cocky with it because it always reminds you you're human.

"The people here are always great. I love the volunteers. They're so nice and supportive on the course. It's really fun. A big-city marathon, you don't get that because the people don't know you."

Top local finishers were Bob Sejbl, 58, of Ironwood (16th in the men's marathon) and Joyce Gayan, 63, of Gile (24th in the women's event).