Smiling and covered in sweat, 35-year-old Ashton Swinford of Hudson raised her arms as she crossed the finish line on Sept. 27, finishing first in the women’s full marathon in Akron. Exhausted, she accepted her medal and high-fived other runners.
With a finish time of 2:51:24, Swinford outran the women’s runner-up by over 9 minutes in the 23rd annual FirstEnergy Akron Marathon.
“My kids are the finish line,” Swinford said after the race. “They inspire me.”…