FAIRBORN — Jake McCubbin, who ran for the Wright State University cross country team from 2008-‘12, won the 22nd Annual Air Force Marathon, Sept. 15 with his personal-best time of 2 hours, 35 minutes and 57 seconds on the Wright-Patt Air Force Base.
“WSU was such a fun experience, and being a student-athlete made it even better,” McCubbin said. “I still keep in contact with coach Fabe (Corbillon), coach Becki (Ordway) and coach Rick (Williamson) to this day. Coach Fabe is having tremendous success at Texas State; we paid him a visit at a Baylor University meet. Coach Becki has been an inspiration to continue to pursue my goals in the marathon as she hit another Olympic Trials qualification time this year. Coach Rick (current WSU head coach) has been great to bounce thoughts and ideas off of, and his success with the current team continues to improve.”
McCubbin, a graduate of Northwestern High School in Springfield, did not compete in 2009 due to an injury but was very competitive throughout his Raider career. His time Saturday was almost 12 minutes off his previous best time. Currently living in San Antonio, Texas with his family, McCubbin will start a four-year assignment at Wright-Patt in November and hopes to run again with his college friends.
He also put in an application to be selected to the All-Air Force team. If accepted, he would compete on behalf of the Air Force and compete against other military branches at the Marine Corps Marathon in late October in Washington D.C.
“I posted a goal to my Facebook on June 4th this year, and that was to win the Air Force Marathon,” McCubbin said. “I knew the conditions were going to be warm for a marathon, so I drew up a tactical game plan of a conservative first half. I executed the first half exactly as I pictured it, then focused on racing and seeing how much of a personal record I could set. I took the lead on the always challenging 844 overpass roughly at mile 21.5, and I didn’t look back. . . .”
He added, “I would like to thank everyone involved from my family to the workers and volunteers of the marathon. It was a great experience, and we can’t wait to move back to be around friends and family.”
WSU is where he met his wife Ellie (Holsopple), a former student-athlete on the cross country/track team. They have two children, Myla (3) and Merritt (eight months).
For more information on Raiders athletics go to www.wsuraiders.com.
