Cleveland Marathon Ambassadors

Allison Szedlock

Originally from Northern Virginia, Allison moved to Columbus, OH in 2015. She began running in college but had to take a few years off to focus on her health. Once things stabilized, she began increasing her mileage and ran her first half marathon in 2013 and in 2015, nearly a year after her daughter was born, Allison completed her first full marathon. The moment she stepped across the finish line, she swore that she would never run another 26.2, but that wasn’t true. Since then, she’s completed 10 full marathons, dozens of half marathons, countless shorter distance races, and has no plans of slowing down. Aside from running, Allison is an events and social media manager and enjoys spending time with her family, especially outdoors.

Spencer Baker

Spencer ran his first marathon, the Cleveland Marathon, in 2018 and hasn't looked back. This year he looks forward to completing his sixth consecutive Cleveland Marathon. Spencer started as a five hour plus marathoner and has achieved a PR of three hours and thirty-five minutes. He loves running for the world of possibilities for self-improvement that it opens up for anyone who chooses to take on a new distance, a new time, or simply to be the best version of themselves on any given day. He has goals of running all six of the marathon majors and running a marathon in all fifty states. Spencer runs to help himself stay healthy, both mentally and physically, and to challenge himself to push beyond his perceived limits. Spencer looks forward to running The Land with everyone this spring!

Melissa Carney

Melissa Koski Carney is 30-something year old Cleveland transplant originally from New York. If you would've told her 20 years ago that she would be a race ambassador, she would've laughed. Melissa didn't start running long distances regularly until after college. She ran her first half marathon 13 years ago and caught the running bug, running Cleveland's half marathon several years in a row. When she ran her first Cleveland half marathon, she was a newlywed, living in Downtown Cleveland and walking to the starting line. Now, she’s a mom of three kids, ages 1, 4 and 6, who lives in the suburbs and uses running as her much-needed solo time.

When she’s not running, Melissa works full time as an internal communications professional and spends her free time reading, baking and ferrying her kids to their own activities. Cleveland Marathon Weekend is her favorite weekend of the year and she is excited to be a returning ambassador. She blogs regularly at I Crashed The Web and is known as @koskim on social media, including Instagram.

Ryan Green

Ryan has been running and heavily involved in all sports since a kid. Now, a father of three little girls, he is still running and playing sports with his kids. Ryan has participated in everything from crossfit competitions, ultra marathons, and obstacle course racing to collegiate basketball, road racing, and his favorite annual race, The Cleveland Marathon. Ryan trains by catching weekly runs with the Run with The Winners group, through the streets of Cleveland. When he’s not running or playing with his kids and dog, Ryan spends his days working with troubled youth in the community. Last year Ryan warmed up for the Cleveland Marathon by running 326 miles across the entire state of Ohio. Which state will he run across this year as a warmup? Stay tuned to find out!

Bob Holub

Bob is a dad of two and a husband of a recent Cleveland Marathon finisher! He’s been running for just over 20 years, and he would say he’s a career half marathoner. When he’s not running or running around with his kids, for his day job he serves as the Director of Recreation for the City of Rocky River.

He left northeast Ohio in 2012 for a career move in Birmingham, Alabama. After a few years in the south, he headed north to Kentucky before finding his way back to the Cleveland area. While in Kentucky, he had the opportunity to join in on a 200-relay team and still make the annual trip back for the Bourbon Chase!

Andrew Ingram

Andy has lived in Cleveland for almost his entire life is looking forward to the Union Home Mortgage Cleveland Marathon being his first!

Leah Kilbane

Running has always been an activity that Leah has enjoyed and incorporated several times a week in her fitness routine, but her true passion for the sport didn’t develop until she experienced the “runners high” after running her first race in 2015. Leah’s love for the Cleveland Marathon began in 2016 after completing the half marathon. In the summer of 2016, she sustained a hip fracture training for her first full marathon. After a long 6 months of recovery, the 2017 Cleveland half marathon was her comeback race. Since the injury, Leah has completed numerous half marathons and 4 full marathons. Leah has continued to run for many reasons, mainly for fitness and health, but also for the physical and mental challenge of setting and attaining personal goals. You will see Leah running with her best runner girl gang friends and the Days Dam crew. The 2023 Cleveland Marathon will be Leah’s 8th year participating in the race and her third year as an ambassador representing Cleveland. Outside of running, Leah is married, a mom to 4 amazing children, and works full-time as a Critical Care Nurse Practitioner for University Hospitals Saint John Medical Center in the Intensive Care Unit. Leah is also a barre instructor at Westside Barre, a local studio located in Avon and leads the "Run to the Barre" classes at the studio and at Crocker Park.

Gab Kreuz

Gabriella Kreuz is a freelance sports reporter and host based in Cleveland, Ohio. In addition to her on-air roles for the Cleveland Guardians and Cleveland 19 News, she is the founder and lead speaker at Love Doesn't Shove. Kreuz makes it a point to use her outgoing personality and passion for teaching to engage with students in meaningful discussion about the dynamics of healthy relationships as a means of dating violence prevention. Kreuz draws from her own experience of violence to help illustrate the importance of recognizing early signs of verbal and physical abuse in relationship contexts. 

Kreuz is a graduate of John Carroll University. She ran cross country and track and graduated with a major in communications and minor in sociology. She finished her undergraduate career a 9-time OAC Champion in track and NCAA Division III Cross Country All-American. She earned her master's degree in broadcast and digital journalism from Syracuse University where she also ran track.

Melissa Mantkowski

Melissa is a Northeast Ohio native whose running adventures began with track and field and continued through the years as a hobby. Melissa decided to challenge herself and take on her first half marathon in 2013. A few years and a few half marathons later, she completed her first full marathon in 2018. When Melissa isn’t running with her training group Northeast Ohio Fit, she enjoys reading, traveling, and playing with her Chocolate Lab Sheldon. Melissa is excited and honored to be running another Cleveland Marathon race as an ambassador!

Jillian Reyna

Jillian has been involved in sports since she could walk, and in high school, she found her passion for running and never looked back!  In college, Jillian proudly ran as a Zip for The University of Akron.  Since college, Jillian has added other types of fitness into her routine, including CrossFit & Peloton cycling.

Jillian has run 4 marathons - she has run the Boston Marathon twice, and is planning to run the New York City Marathon in 2023!  She loves all distances, but the half marathon is her favorite!  She loves running in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Summit & Cleveland Metroparks for her training.

In the past year, Jillian has taken her love for running to the next level - she started her own business ‘Rise & Reign LLC’ and became a VDOT.O2 Certified Distance Running Coach.  She loves making connections in the running community, bringing people together, and helping them achieve their goals.

Jillian resides in Northfield, Ohio, with her husband Luis and two corgis (Ginger & Zippy) & black cat Tao. She works at The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company as a Project Specialist.

Mary Sutter

Mary began running as a part of a major weight loss journey, but it has become so much more than that! It is therapy, a way to stay healthy, and has also become a way to see different parts of the country. What better way to see a city than run 13.1 miles through it? Ok… maybe running 26.2 miles through it! This year Mary is coming back after spending most of 2021 & 2022 facing several injuries and health issues. She is looking forward to running the streets of Cleveland once again - follow her for info on getting back on course after taking a few detours.

Christopher Thaxton

Christopher is the training instructor for Plumbers Local 55 who takes pride educating the tradespersons responsible for building The Land.

In 2017, he made a lifestyle change and incorporated running into his fitness journey. Down 100 lbs., he ran his first Cleveland Half Marathon in 2018 and even before he crossed the finish line, he knew his next goal was to tackle a marathon. He has since run multiple marathons, half marathons, 5ks and relays.

Christopher has earned Abbott World Major Marathon Stars in Chicago and NYC in ‘19 & ‘22, Boston in ‘21 & ‘22 and has Boston & Berlin on the calendar for ‘23.

He started training as a multi-sport athlete and completed his first sprint triathlon in ‘21 and quickly followed it up with an Olympic distance triathlon. He competed in triathlons in ‘22 including Cleveland, USAT Age Group Nationals in Milwaukee and his first 70.3 Ironman in NY.

Christopher is excited to be returning as an ambassador for Cleveland Marathon weekend this year. Cleveland is home and this race holds many memories. He can’t wait to make more!

He enjoys training runs in the Cleveland Metroparks and can be seen joining group runs/workouts throughout Cleveland with SoleTrain.

He resides in Fairview Park with his wife Jaclyn and their re-homed dog Koda & Theo (formerly known as Pepe) who they rescued from Muttley Crue.

Christina Toth

As far back as she can remember, Christina has loved sports and being an athlete. She grew up playing volleyball, baseball, and softball at Austintown Fitch, graduating in 1997. She went to Thiel College to pursue a degree in mathematics and secondary education, as well as play collegiate volleyball at Thiel. She holds many records at Thiel, and was named team MVP her sophomore, junior, and senior years. Also, named to the President Athletic Conference team every year. In 2019, she was inducted into the Austintown Fitch Athletic Hall of Fame for volleyball, basketball, and softball. She has coached Varsity Volleyball, Varsity Softball, and middle school girls’ basketball for the Ravenna School District, where she has taught high school math for the past 22 years. She was also the Prom Advisor at RHS for 15 years.

After her final year of coaching in 2012, she decided to start running and fell in love with the sport. She has completed two full marathons and numerous half marathons, while also running local 5ks and 10Ks. Her favorite distance is 10 miles. Her Dad and Mom bike next to her on her training runs; her Dad even bikes next to her during most of her races. Her parents are Her biggest cheerleaders and supporters. She’s an avid weightlifter, and really enjoys getting stronger as an athlete and a runner.

Allison Wukotich

Allison is excited to be back for her second year as a Cleveland Marathon Ambassador. She ran her first full marathon in Cleveland in 2010. Allison grew up in the suburbs of Cleveland, and is a proud graduate of Padua Franciscan, Baldwin Wallace (undergrad) and Cleveland State (grad school); however, she currently resides in Youngstown, Ohio. After her first marathon, she realized she was able to do what seemed impossible and dabbled in road and trail races of all distances. She even spent a week in Alaska running with ultra-marathoner Geoff Roes. Aside from running, Allison teaches English at Minerva High School (GO LIONS!).  She also is in denial about her daughter, Mackenzie, graduating from LaRoche University this Spring. Allison loves reading, Bigfoot, dinosaurs, peanut butter, graham central station ice cream, her family, and her cat, Willow-pants.