Kim Brown, of Toronto, finishes first place in the female...

Kim Brown, of Toronto, finishes first place in the female division in the Steamtown Marathon in downtown Scranton Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

Nicholas Costello, of Laramie, WY, runs on Route 6 in...

Nicholas Costello, of Laramie, WY, runs on Route 6 in Carbondale during the Steamtown Marathon Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

John Tatter, of Chapel Hill, NC, reacts afer crossing the...

John Tatter, of Chapel Hill, NC, reacts afer crossing the finish line during the Steamtown Marathon in downtown Scranton Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. Tatter, who was in first place the majority of the race finished third. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

Allie Caminiti, of Atlanta, Georgia, finishes second in the female...

Allie Caminiti, of Atlanta, Georgia, finishes second in the female division during the Steamtown Marathon Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

Justin Rowan, of New York, NY, approaches the finish line...

Justin Rowan, of New York, NY, approaches the finish line during the Steamtown Marathon Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

A race participant walks past words of support written in...

A race participant walks past words of support written in chalk on N. Washington Ave. in downtown Scranton during the Steamtown Marathon Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

Nicholas Costello, of Laramie, WY, finishes the Steamtown Marathon in...

Nicholas Costello, of Laramie, WY, finishes the Steamtown Marathon in second place Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

Kevin Dugan, of Philadelphia, finishes the Steamtown Marathon Sunday, Oct....

Kevin Dugan, of Philadelphia, finishes the Steamtown Marathon Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

Jeremy Gulish, of Morristown, New Jersey, crosses the finish line...

Jeremy Gulish, of Morristown, New Jersey, crosses the finish line during the Steamtown Marathon Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

Alexander Izewski, of Yardley, PA, approaches the finish line during...

Alexander Izewski, of Yardley, PA, approaches the finish line during the Steamtown Marathon Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

Thomas Dean, of Highlands Ranch, CO, finishes first place in...

Thomas Dean, of Highlands Ranch, CO, finishes first place in the male division in the Steamtown Marathon in downtown Scranton Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

Michael Stevick, of New York, NY, sits down with other...

Michael Stevick, of New York, NY, sits down with other runners after finishing the Steamtown Marathon Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

Runners and spectators gather near the finish line during the...

Runners and spectators gather near the finish line during the Steamtown Marathon Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

Thomas Dean, of Highlands Ranch, CO, approaches the finish line...

Thomas Dean, of Highlands Ranch, CO, approaches the finish line during the Steamtown Marathon in downtown Scranton Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

Timothy Rarick, of Carlisle, PA, passes Scranton City Hall on...

Timothy Rarick, of Carlisle, PA, passes Scranton City Hall on N. Washington St. during the Steamtown Marathon Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

Spectators cheer on the runners near the finish line of...

Spectators cheer on the runners near the finish line of the Steamtown Marathon Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

Brian Giovanni, of Cincinnati, OH, recieves his medal after crossing...

Brian Giovanni, of Cincinnati, OH, recieves his medal after crossing the finish line of the Steamtown Marathon in downtown Scranton Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

Bradly Robinson, of Peachtree City, Georgia, approaches the finish line...

Bradly Robinson, of Peachtree City, Georgia, approaches the finish line during the Steamtown Marathon Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

Race volunteers cheer on the runners during the Steamtown Marathon...

Race volunteers cheer on the runners during the Steamtown Marathon Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

Thomas Dean, of Highlands Ranch, CO, runs on Route 6...

Thomas Dean, of Highlands Ranch, CO, runs on Route 6 in Carbondale during the Steamtown Marathon Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

Samuel Zachary, of Ardmore, PA, greets his family near the...

Samuel Zachary, of Ardmore, PA, greets his family near the finish line of the Steamtown Marathon in downtown Scranton Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

Shaun Evans, of Middle Grove, New York, pushes his son...

Shaun Evans, of Middle Grove, New York, pushes his son Seamus Evans toward the finish line during the Steamtown Marathon Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

Seamus Evans, of Middle Grove, NY, is given a thumbs...

Seamus Evans, of Middle Grove, NY, is given a thumbs up by a race volunteer after crossing the finish line during the Steamtown Marathon Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

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Kim Brown, of Toronto, finishes first place in the female division in the Steamtown Marathon in downtown Scranton Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

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SCRANTON — Thomas Dean passed Nick Costello for second place and was going to be content with that finish in the Steamtown Marathon on Sunday.

Then he saw something he never expected to see that changed his mind:

Race leader John Tatter had stopped.

Suddenly, Dean had a shot at victory. He passed Tatter for the lead around the 23.5-mile mark and went on to win the 28th running of the race Sunday morning. The 30-year-old from Highlands Ranch, Colorado, covered the 26.21876-mile run from Forest City High School to Courthouse Square in downtown Scranton in 2 hours, 24 minutes, 40.49 seconds in ideal conditions.

“I figured, OK, I’m in second,” Dean said. “Zero percent expecting that the guy in first was right there. It sort of threw me off.

“I went through the half at 72, paced myself and felt strong. Passed him on the uphill and just kept pushing.”

Costello, last year’s Steamtown winner from Laramie, Wyoming, also passed Tatter with about 1½ miles remaining and finished second in 2:27:40.63. Tatter managed to place third in 2:28:56.15. Benjamin Eysenbach from Princeton, New Jersey, was fourth in 2:32:25.02 and Ivan Zavala of Avondale rounded out the top five in 2:34:17.58.

The top local finisher was Tavian McKenna from Forty Fort in eighth in 2:40:01.71.

In the female division, Kim Brown of Toronto, Ontario, Canada was the winner in 2:51:39.10. Brown was the 32nd runner overall to cross the finish line.

Allie Caminiti from Atlanta, Georgia, was second in 2:52:05.86 and Kathleen Casey-Anderson, who originally is from Dickson City and now lives in Maryville, Tennessee, was third in 2:52:47.86.

Tatter, a 26-year-old who ran at the University of North Carolina and currently is a coach at the Chapel Hill school, moved in front four miles into the race and built a sizeable advantage. But just past Mile 22 on Eagle Lane in Dickson City, Tatter began to struggle. He stopped on several occasions and even got sick. That allowed Dean to catch and eventually overtake Tatter.

“Around halfway, I started struggling to keep down the gels I was taking,” Tatter said. “Once that happened, I couldn’t keep the energy up. I hit the wall pretty hard in the later miles and had to stop a few times to regroup.

“Definitely not the day I was hoping for, but that’s the marathon sometimes.”

Now that he had the lead, Dean wanted to make sure that same thing that happened to Tatter didn’t happen to him. He had a moment of trepidation on the hill by Cooper’s Seafood House on North Washington Avenue at 25.5 miles, but handled it before heading to the finish line.

“I was like, this is never-ending. Oh my gosh,” Dean said. “Three weeks ago, I did a Pikes Peak ascent in Colorado, so I figured if I could do that race, I could make it up this hill. But it felt just as hard.

“After I passed him, I was like, Don’t mess it up. Don’t mess it up. Just keep pushing. Don’t try to throw down a fast time. Just keep to the plan. I did ask a biker, ‘Where’s the guy behind me?’ and he said, ‘I can’t see him.’ So I was like all right, don’t blow up. Stay to it. Because my kick isn’t great.”

For the first three miles, Tatter and Costello ran side by side. But when Tatter began to pull away, the defending champ let him go.

“I know the course. I’ll take these big gap hills easy,” Costello said. “I was kind of running by myself until I saw Thomas behind me around (Mile) 19 or 20. He caught me and then we took a corner and saw that the leader was right there. It looked like he was going to win. But I was able to get him and get into second. It was good.

“I probably could have used that feeling around (Mile) 15 or 16. But by the time I saw that, I knew I was kind of hurting. I just wanted to keep everything together and get in in a respectable time. It was a super-fun race. Three guys, we couldn’t have been farther apart at halfway and by the end it was fun that we all were right here.”

This was the fourth marathon and first win for Dean, who ran at Manchester University in Indiana. His winning time was a personal best.

“I started thinking at Mile 24, this is happening,” Dean said. “I still had two miles to go, but it’s one of those things where you’re in the moment. I didn’t plan on it. It’s a great feeling. I just sort of enjoyed coming down the hill, everyone cheering and just soaking it in.”

Women

Brown spent the first part of the race in second place, as many as 41 seconds behind Caminiti. But Brown rallied and took the lead at Mile 14 and pulled away from Caminiti.

“I could see her. I think I was more steady with the downhills and she went out aggressively,” Brown said. “So I passed her and I could hear the bike pacer calling out how far behind she was. So that actually helped. I probably would have taken a walk break if they weren’t calling out the times. She was close, so I kept moving.”

At Mile 19, Brown built a 1-minute, 15-second lead over Caminiti. But then she began to have issues.

“Wow! What a hard course,” Brown said. “I obviously knew the profile. But I did not expect to have my quads respond so poorly to the downhills. It was a struggle to keep pace after the halfway mark.”

Caminiti cut into the deficit and was within 22 seconds at Mile 25. She wasn’t able to complete the comeback, however.

“I couldn’t close it over that last cruel mile,” Caminiti said. “But it was so much fun to chase her. A really good race.”

Had there been one more mile, Caminiti believes she could have caught Brown. Brown agreed.

“I was running out of real estate,” Brown said. “I don’t think I’ve ever won a marathon before, so that is super cool. The crowd support was a 12 out of 10. Everyone was so friendly and fantastic. It’s a huge confidence boost. I’m going to take a good break, but I’m excited to get back into training next year to build on this.”

Casey-Anderson is a 2008 graduate of Holy Cross High School who went on to Saint Joseph’s University, then attended graduate school at the University of Tennessee. This was her third Steamtown, having run it previously last year and in 2014. Her third-place effort was a personal-best time.

“I tried to take it easy, because last year I feel like I was too hard going down the hills,” Casey-Anderson said. “I tried to stay with my pace and what I was training for.”

Regardless of his win, Dean thoroughly enjoyed his first Steamtown experience, as well.

“Everyone likes to go to big marathons and those are nice,” Dean said. “But something about this is super unique. The bands playing, it was just awesome. A guy I work with ran it before and he just raved about it, said you’re going to love it. It lived up to everything. Win or lose, it would have been great.”

A total of 1,035 runners were entered in the race.

Windy City

Seven-time Steamtown Marathon women’s winner Heidi Peoples of South Abington Twp. did not run in Sunday’s race because she competed in the Chicago Marathon. She finished in 2:39:30 to win her age group (45-49), 29th in the women’s division and 667th overall.

Originally Published: October 12, 2025 at 12:06 PM EDT