Hong De Sa can thank her frugal younger brother for picking Salina as the destination for her first marathon in nearly a decade.

The rest was all her.

“My brother wanted to do this race,” De Sa said after cruising to Salina Crossroads Marathon women’s title Saturday in a time of 3 hours, 15 minutes, 33 seconds. “We usually do marathons as a family event, and so just a fun way to see a new town and a good experience.”

Thang De Sa admitted that choosing the fourth annual Crossroads Marathon for himself and his sister wasn’t strictly about what Salina had to offer, though he gave the community and the race high marks afterwards.

“It was $20 (entry fee), that’s why I came here,” he said with a smile. “It is a beautiful town.”

The De Sa siblings grew up in Pennsylvania, but Hong flew into Wichita from her home in suburban Atlanta, while her brother drove from Colorado.

“It seemed like a really great small-town race with a good community vibe,” Hong said after beating women’s runner-up Gwen Jacobson of Rochester, Minnesota, by close to seven minutes. “And I love that the proceeds go to a good cause (local youth sports organizations).”

First place finisher Hong De Sa (left) joined by runner-up Gwen Jacobson (right).

The overall marathon winner was Eric Vazquez of Lawrence, who outdistanced his nearest competitor by more than 15 minutes, crossing the finish line in 2:23:00.

As for Hong De Sa, forgive her if she couldn’t recall precisely what year she ran her last marathon or how many she has completed. Typically, she covers way more than 26.2-mile marathon distance on race days.

“This is probably my ninth or 10th, but I actually do ultramarathons, like 100-mile races, and so this was a step outside the box for me,” she said. “This is my first full marathon since 2017 or ’18. It’s been a while. It’s been almost a decade.”

Not that the marathon was a walk in the park.

“Oh no, this is much harder to run that fast for that long,” De Sa said.

De Sa grew up in the Pennsylvania town of Stroudsburg and went on to college at Harvard, though she did not run competitively there. She recently moved from Washington state to Atlanta, where she works as an oncologist.

“I’ve kind of used running as a form of meditation and therapy,” she said. “I just love to be outside running.”

She typically runs one or two ultramarathons a year.

Thang De Sa, who lives in the Colorado mountains, in Nederland, also prefers ultramarathons and iron man triathlons to regular marathons. He’s an avid skier and rock climber as well.

Eric Vazquez dominates in his first Crossroads Marathon

A closer look at Vazquez’s ‘first place’ medal, made by his niece.

Eric Vazquez had no designs on breaking records when he decided to enter the Salina marathon. In fact, he was somewhat taken aback by his time of 2:23:00 for what was meant to be more of a glorified training session.

“The first half I was just trying to help the half marathon guy, and I didn’t realize how fast we were going because my watch was on the fritz,” Vazquez said of his first of two laps around the 13.1-mile course that started and ended by the City Lights Stage downtown. “It was telling me 5:40 pace, and it was like 5:15.

“And then the second half, I just tried to maintain. I have a race in Phoenix in December, where I’m trying to run quite a bit faster.”

Vazquez’s end goal is to qualify for the U.S. Olympic trials. “He accomplished that with his first full marathon, two years ago in Chicago. His time of 2:17 earned him a place in last year’s trials, though he only completed half of that race because of an injury.

“I just showed up to this amazing opportunity,” he said.

The plan this time around was to use the Crossroads Marathon as a tune-up for Phoenix.

“The current Olympic trial standard is about 2:16, and I try to be aiming for under that, so that’s 2:15.”

Vazquez, who grew up in Great Bend, continued his running career at University of Saint Mary in Leavenworth, where he was a two-time All-American and won an NAIA national championship in the distance medley relay. He continued to enter races during a year at Northwestern in Chicago and then as he finished graduate school at Kansas before becoming a teacher at Lawrence Free State High School.

The Salina race not only served his training timeline for Phoenix, but also allowed for some family time with his sister, her husband and children, who live in town. As he waited for the trophy presentation, instead of his marathon completion medal he wore a handmade paper one from his young niece that had “First Place” scribbled in pencil.

Overall, Vazquez had no complaints about the race, though a stiff breeze throughout was a challenge for all runners.

“It was nice … windy,” he said with a smile. “But you can’t control the wind, and it’s windy for everyone. It’s a beautiful course, beautiful city.

“I was hoping to run a little slower, so running a little faster was a surprise.”

Marathon was not the only race

The marathon drew 564 entries with 548 runners finishing, but the most popular one Saturday was the 13.1-mile half marathon with 1,537 of 1,541 registered competitors competing the course. There also was a 10-kilometer, 5K, kids half-mile run and full and half-marathon relays.

The half marathon winner was Robbie Schmidt of Wichita, a Topeka native who ran collegiately at Fort Hays State. He finished in 1:09.23, three minutes ahead of Wichita’s Lakelin Conrad (1:12:40).

“This was my fourth (half marathon), but I haven’t done one in a while so it’s a bit of a tune-up just to see where I was.

“The first half was good. I had the marathon winner, Eric Vazguez, pacing me, which was very helpful. That back half with the wind, it definitely was tough, but I just tried to stay relax and tried to finish.”

The women’s half marathon winner was Junction City’s Mandy Zimmerman, a teacher and coach at Junction City High School. She finished in 1:22:25, with Devon England of Guthrie, Oklahoma, second in 1:24:57.

Salina’s Luke Gleason, a former standout at Southeast of Saline High School and Emporia State, won the 10K in 35:25, with Cari Warden the top women’s finisher in 47:48. Ian Webb of Decatur, Indiana, won the 5K in 16:06, with Baylor Brown of Assaria taking the women’s title in 21:32.

2025 SALINA CROSSROADS MARATHON RESULTS

MARATHON

Men overall winners

1. Eric Vazquez, Lawrence, 2:23:00; 2. Caleb Bendewald, Granbury, Texas, 2:38:19; 3. Zach Jowers, Topeka, 2:41:49.

Women overall winners

1. Hong De Sa, Brookhaven, Ga., 3:15:33; 2. Gwen Jacobson, Rochester, Minn., 3:22:26; 3. Sarah Formen, Lenexa, 3:23:38.

HALF MARATHON

Men overall winners

Robbie Schmidt, Wichita, 1:09.23; 2. Lakelin Conrad, Wichita, 1:12:40; 3. David Lutgen, Beloit, 1:13:26.

Women overall winners

1. Mandy Zimmerman, Junction City, 1:22:25.; 2. Devon England, Guthrie, Okla., 1:24.57; 3. Amy Plank, Marion, 1:29:03.

10K RUN

Men overall winners

1. Luke Gleason, Salina, 35:25; 2. Curtis Whittit, Wichita, 36:14; 3. Jack Egan, Humboldt, Texas, 38:53.

Women overall winners

1. Cari Warden, Maize, 47:48; 2. Cadence Black, Wichita, 49:48; 3. Natalie Barta, Manhattan, 49:51.

5K RUN/WALK

Men overall winners

1. Ian Webb, Decatur, Ind., 16:06; 2. Joel Valdez, Stafford, 16:50; 3. Liam Deniau-Young, Salina, 17:20.

Women overall winners

1. Baylor Brown, Assaria, 21:32; 2. Alisn Rizzo, Colorado Springs, 22:01; 3. Colleen McAlister, US Air Force Academy, Colo.. 22:10.

HALF-MILE KIDS RUN

Boys overall winners

1. Adrian Ordonez, Salina, 3:03; 2. Teddy Scott, Goddard, 3:23; 3. Cole Wyatt, Lamar, Mo., 3:31.

Girls overall winners

1. Kenzie Baxa, Salina, 4:05; 2. Aubrie Baxa, Salina, 4:22; 3. Kyndall Carter, Salina, 4:23.