Runners start the Angie Gioiosa Memorial 4th of July Race (5K) on 12th Avenue in downtown Altoona. There were 923 overall entries this year.

The thunderstorms that had been forecast for this area for Thursday didn’t arrive by mid-morning, so runners and walkers alike kept dry for the Angie Gioiosa Memorial Fourth of July race that was staged through the streets of Altoona.

Heat and humidity was somewhat of a challenge, though, except to 15K men’s champion Loc O of Williamsburg, who won the 9.3-mile race for the third time in his racing career, finishing in a time of 53:58.63.

Altoona’s A.J. Kelly, another veteran of the race who has won several 15K championships in the event, finished second overall in 54:24.28, while former Altoona High School cross country standout Clayton Blose, now living in Brooklyn, N.Y., was third overall with a time of 55:25.65.

Another former Altoona Area High School cross country and track standout, Alexis Stephens, who now lives in Friendsville, Md., fronted the women’s 15K field with a time of 1:02.26 that placed her eighth among the overall finishers, while two-time defending women’s champion Amy O’Donnell of Ebensburg was second behind Stephens in the women’s competition with a time of 1:03.31.68 that placed her 10th overall. Former Cambria Heights standout Quinn McElheny finished 15th overall and third in the women’s 15K field with a time of 1:05.07.58.

O, 47, who is an assistant varsity track and cross country coach at Williamsburg High School, is an accomplished distance runner who finished ninth in the overall field at the Cleveland Marathon in May and plans to run the New York Marathon this December.

O started Thursday’s 15K race behind both Kelly and Blose, but passed them at the 5-mile mark and set the pace for the remainder of the competition.

“It was a little warm for my liking today, but I enjoyed the race, and I was very happy with my performance,” O said.

O typically puts in about 55 miles of running per week and said that he’ll hike that total up to as many as 80 miles per week in preparation for the New York Marathon.

“My training has really helped me,” said O, who averaged an outstanding 5.48 minutes per mile on Thursday. “The heat and humidity bothers some people, but I am OK with running in the heat.”

O figured that with defending champion Kenny Goodfellow, a Hollidaysburg native, not running in this year’s race, his stiffest competition would come from Kelly and Blose, and he was right.

“I felt that it was going to be between me, A.J. and Clayton,” O said. “I knew that it was going to be one of the three of us (winning). I knew that I had a shot at winning, but I wasn’t sure.

“I enjoy this race,” O said. “It’s well-organized, and it seems like there are a lot of people from different towns coming here to race.”

Stephens, 31, a 2011 Altoona High School graduate, has competed in the Fourth of July race for many years, and won the women’s 15K championship for the first time on Thursday. She averaged 6 minutes, 43 seconds on her mile splits.

“I finished second last year, I’ve been running this since I was in high school, and it feels pretty good to finally win it,” Stephens said. “I was pretty consistent in my mile times today, and I was faster than I was last year. It’s always hard to keep that going in the second half of the race.”

Like O, Stephens was thrilled to be a part of Thursday’s Fourth of July field again.

“I love this race, it’s a great tradition, and it’s always nice to come back home and see family, friends, and old teammates,” Stephens said. “It’s a great race.”

Former Northern Bedford High School cross country and track standout Ian Sherlock, 22, fronted the men’s field in the 5K (3.1-mile) race for the third consecutive year. Sherlock crossed the finish line in 15:36.48, while Hayden Hunt of McKees Rocks was second overall with a time of 15:37.14.

“It’s great, it’s an awesome opportunity to be out in the community again, running a good race for a good cause, running on a good course,” Sherlock said. “This is always a good time, and it’s a good atmosphere with the crowd here standing alongside the road, cheering everybody on.”

Central High School cross country standout Lanee Berkhimer, 16, of Duncansville, fronted the women’s 5K field with a time of 19:11.77, while Arlee Simendinger of Duncansville was second among the 5K women’s finishers with a time of 20:29.26.

Berkhimer, who will be a junior at Central this fall, is already a two-time District 6 champion and two-time PIAA state medalist in cross country.

“Winning this race was a nice preview for the cross country season,” Berkhimer said. “This is a nice local race, and I am thankful for this race because I could just run at a nice tempo without worrying about my time or pushing myself for the long training time that is ahead of me.”

Donna Stoltz of Altoona was the overall champion in the 2-mile walk, finishing that event in a time of 20:39.27. Nancy Kietzing of Roaring Spring was second overall with a time of 20:59.77, while Jill Little of Patton was third with a time of 22:01.12. Tim Little of Patton was the top men’s finisher with a time of 22:38.69, and finished fourth overall.

15K results

Top 10

(The top three men’s and women’s overall finishers are listed by *)

*1, Loc O, Williamsburg, 53:58.63. *2, A.J. Kelly, Altoona, 54:24.28. *3, Clayton Blose, Brooklyn, 55:25.65. 4, Brad Brooks, 56:57.52. 5, William Hymes, 58:46.82. 6, Gabe Ebersole, 59:56.27. 7, Rob Crossman, 1:01.54.25. *8, Alexis Stephens, Friendsville, Md., 1:02.26. 9, Declan Murphy, 1:03.25.27. *10, Amy O’Donnell, Ebensburg, 1:03.31.68. *15, Quinn McElheny, Hastings, 1:05.07.58.

5K results

Top 10

*1, Ian Sherlock, Hopewell, 15:36.48. *2, Hayden Hunt, McKees Rocks, 15:37.14. *3, Garrett Quinlan, Stewartstown, 16:34.27. 4, Ian Zimmerman, 16:36.20. 5, Matt Wehrle, 16:39.23. 6, Caleb Beiswenger, 17:23.25. 7, Dean Sunderland, 17:34.40. 8, Nathan Harding, 17:44.27. 9, Dallas Smithmyer, 18:13.52. 10, Andrew Quirin, 18:32.83. *16, Lanee Berkhimer, Duncansville, 19:11.77. *32, Arlee Simendinger, Duncansville, 20:29.26. *33, Ashlyn Noce, Altoona, 20:29.93.

2-Mile Walk

Top 10 overall

1, Donna Stoltz, Altoona, 20:39.27. 2, Nancy Kietzing, Roaring Spring, 20:59.77. 3, Jill Little, Patton, 22:01.12. 4, Tim Little, Patton, 22:38.69. 5, Veronica Stern, 22:54.95. 6, Stacy LoCostro, 23:13.64. 7, Kim Zimmerman, 24:18.28. 8, Lisa Appleby, 24:33.28. 9, Linda Conway, 24:34.75. 10, Ron Hampton, 25:02.43.