After 20 cold, grueling miles through four Island towns, this year’s Martha’s Vineyard 20 Miler ended with a distinctively local twist, when a native Vineyarder crossed the finish line first.
Michael Schroeder, 23, now lives in Charlotte, N.C., but the race winner grew up in West Tisbury. He is the son of Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School track coach Joe Schroeder and Marylee Schroeder, who is also a well-known marathon runner.
Michael Schroeder often volunteered at the event when he was younger.
“I helped out at this race for eight years,” he said. “I always wanted to come back and run this race, and I took home the win today. I’ve never run it before. First time, first win. It felt good.”
Mr. Schroeder finished in 1:57:07 for the 20-mile course.
The first woman across the finish line was Molly Trachtenberg, 30, of South Boston, in a time of 2:17:33. She plans to run the Boston Marathon in April.
“Today I was out there for a good training run,” said Ms. Trachtenberg.
This was her first try at the MV 20 Miler, and her first visit to the Island.
“It’s a great place to be,” she said. “Can’t say enough about the community. It was fun out here.”
The race also features a relay competition, with two runners each running a 10-mile segment. The relay winners were the husband and wife team of Mike and Emily Stone of Falmouth. They finished in 2:08:08.
“This is always a fun race, we’ve run it the past few years,” said Mike Stone.
Race director Todd Cleland said about 380 runners competed in the 20th annual running of the 20 Miler, which falls at a very convenient time for runners planning to compete in the Boston Marathon.
“The way that standard 16-week training goes for marathons, right around this time you have to do your long run,” said Mr. Cleland. “It’s a fitness test to find out how marathon ready you are. A lot of people who are running today are prepping for Boston, and this is to find out if their training plan is on schedule.”
The race is known for harsh weather and warm community participation, with youth sports leagues operating water stations along the course.
“It’s a challenge, not only the distance of 20 miles, but February, winter,” Mr. Cleland said. “It takes a ton of help. There is just no way you can do this without a solid core of volunteers.”
Proceeds from the race benefit Island youth sports programs, including hockey, football, figure skating, lacrosse and running.
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