Eanes, Faylona win Madison Marathon

Francis Eanes, a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, celebrated his 24th birthday on Sunday with a victory in the Madison Marathon.

The Pittsburgh, Pa., native led from the first mile, and crossed the finish line almost nine minutes ahead of Thomas Brunold, a UW chemistry professor who now has three second-lace finishes to go with his marathon win in 2005.

Eanes' winning time was 2:31:55.

Julie Faylona, a coach from Baraboo, won the women's division with a time of 2:59:02.

With cooler temperatures providing comfortable running conditions, 1,267 runners finished the marathon. Another 3,479 competed in the half-marathon.

Registration levels in the Madison Marathon races, which include a full, half and quarter marathon and a wheelchair race, were down from around 8,300 last year to 6,797 this year, a decline of 18 percent.

"I think with some positive feedback from runners, we'll see our numbers go back up next year," event director Keith Peterson told the Capital Times.