Back in April, he ran with some of the top runners in the world during the 129th edition of the Boston Marathon. He finished in the top one percent of the group he ran with, finishing 262nd overall in a field that featured more than 28,000 runners.

The experiences in both races are very different.

“What’s nice about this is there’s no frills,” Blose, 33, said. “I can wake up at my parents’ house and be here in 10 minutes and warm up and go right to the starting line. Whereas something like Boston, you’re on the bus for an hour. You’re waiting two hours at the start to go into your race, so there’s all this extra stuff you have to plan for.”

On a warm morning Friday, he was part of a record-setting field which had Alex Monroe, 33, of Lewistown winning the 15K race in 48 minutes, 44.85 seconds.

Clayton Blose (left) was third in the 15K race, and Kenny Goodfellow (right) was second. Photo for the Mirror by Matt Michelone

“This one’s really hard because of the time of the year — it makes it really difficult — and there’s a cadre of really competitive runners who show up to this, which is part of why I come back to it,” Blose said. “It’s been really fun to compete against each other every year. It’s become a tradition, and it’s awesome.”

More than 1,070 participants registered to take part in this year’s event through the streets of Altoona. Blose finished third overall in the 15K race with a time of 52:35.55, following Hollidaysburg alum Kenny Goodfellow, 35, who finished second in 51:24.11, and Monroe.

“I still have family in the area. It’s really fun race to do every year,” said Goodfellow, who’s had three top 100 finishes in the Boston Marathon. “The weather was beautiful, it’s summer so it can get hot and humid, but today was great. Mile 8 is just always brutal because it’s just nice and gradual going uphill.”

Recent Juniata Valley High School graduate Ella McCrum, who will continue her running career at Bucknell University, won the women’s 15K in 1:01.06. She was 16th overall.

In the 5K race, Hayden Hunt, 22, from McKees Rocks — a three-time participant — took the top spot at 15 minutes, 13.20 seconds, followed by Chayce MacKnair from Lewistown (16:12.38) and Dean Sunderland of Altoona (16:41.84).

In the 5K, Hayden Hunt (center) was first, Chayce MacKnair (right) was second, and Dean Sunderland (left) was third. Photo for the Mirror by Matt Michelone

“It’s just great to come out with friends, and we had a beautiful day,” Hunt said of his experience. “The volunteers did a great job. We had the fire company with hoses (to help cool runners down). It was a good race.”

MacKnair — a Mifflin County High School graduate now 24 years old — has enjoyed many trips to the area and decided to take a chance on running in this year’s event.

“I have done the State College Firecracker (4K) run the last couple of years because it’s a lot closer to home,” he said. “A couple of my friends from college were running up here and invited me up for the weekend, so I did this one. This course was really fun. I think I’ll do it again.

Allie Guillard, 40, of State College, won the women’s 5K in 17:12.77 and was followed by scholastic stars Chloe May of Bedford (16) in 18:15.82 and Ashlyn Noce of Altoona (15) in 18:48.34.

Donna Stoltz, 65, was the top finisher in the 2-mile walk with a time of 20:36.60 followed by Veronique Stern, 62, from Duncansville (22:17.99) and Brody Wiser, 11, of Altoona (23.57.61).

15K RESULTS

MALE

Overall: 1, Alex Monroe, Lewistown, 48:44.85; 2, Kenny Goodfellow, Rochester, N.Y., 51:24.11; 3, Clayton Blose, Reston, Va., 52:35.55; 4, Brad Brooks, Warriors Mark, 53:17.36; 5, Loc O, Williamsburg, 54:05.64; 6, AJ Kelly, Altoona, 54:34.47; 7, Brandt Patterson, Lilly, 54:52.56; 8, Vinnie Caroselli, Pittsburgh, 55:05.59; 9, Shane May, Bedford, 57:26.37; 10, Luke Ruggery, 57:41.10.

12-14: 1, Gavin Brasher, Warriors Mark, 1:08:43. 15-18: 1, Andrew Quinn, Altoona, 58:43.72. 19-24: 1, Brandt Patterson, Lilly, 54:52.56. 25-29: 1, Vinnie Caroselli, Pittsburgh, 55:05.59. 30-34: 1, Brad Brooks, Warriors Mark, 53:17.36. 35-39: 1, Joel Takacs, Ebensburg, 57:58.59. 40-44: 1, AJ Kelly, Altoona, 54:34.47. 45-49: 1, Loc O, Williamsburg, 54:05.64. 50-54: 1, Shane May, Bedford, 57:26.37. 55-59: 1, Brian Pellman, Duncansville, 1:22:02. 60-64: 1, Matt Smith, State College, 1:02:23. 65-69: 1, Ron Burket, Philipsburg, 1:21:13. 70 and over: 1, Fred Petrunak, Altoona, 1:27:27.

FEMALE

Overall: 1, Ella McCrum, Alexandria, 1:01:06; 2, Emily Koehle, Ebensburg, 1:06:07; 3, Sarah Mihm, Windber, 1:06:16.

12-14: 1, Hallie Troutman, 1:44:43. 15-18: 1, Ashley Causer, Allport, 1:15:00; 19-24: 1, Maddie Murphy, 1:07:27. 25-29: 1, Jillian Gresko, Altoona, 1:12:31. 30-34: 1, Victoria Johnson (McIntyre), Altoona, 1:09:16. 35-39: Amanda Edevane, Altoona, 1:11:07. 40-44: 1, Jayme Rhodes, Hollidaysburg, 1:08:08. 45-49: 1, Regina Lozinski, Altoona, 1:22:22. 50-54: 1, Regina Ruggery, 1:11:18. 55-59: 1, Stacey Corle, Altoona, 1:26:29. 60-64: 1, Gail Good, Altoona, 1:26:30.

5K RESULTS

Overall: 1, Hayden Hunt, McKees Rocks, 15:13.20, 2, Chayce MacKnair, Lewistown, 16:12.38, 3, Dean Sunderland, Altoona, 16:41.84; 4, Ian Sherlock, Hopewell, 16:59.56; 5, Allie Guillard, State College, 17:12.73; 6, Mason Kephart, Duncansville, 17:36.53; 7, Matthew Berzonsky, Spring Mills, 17:43.82; 8, Chloe May, Bedford, 18:15.82; 9, Zac Kephart, 18:34.77; 10, Ashlyn Noce, Altoona, 18:53.34.

MALE

Overall: 1, Hayden Hunt, McKees Rocks, 15:13.20, 2, Chayce MacKnair, Lewistown, 16:12.38, 3, Dean Sunderland, Altoona, 16:41.84.

1-5: 1, Owen Gibney, Hollidaysburg, 39:16.34. 6-8: 1, Nash Imler, 25:11.36. 9-11: 1, Boett Imler, 23:10.85. 12-14: Mason Kephart, Duncansville, 17:36.53. 15-18: 1, Seth Lieb, Altoona, 18:53.34. 19-24: 1, Ian Sherlock, Hopewell, 16:59.56. 25-29: 1, Trevor Palfey, Altoona, 20:42.31. 30-34: 1, Jon Welker, West Chester, 20:25.38. 35-39: 1, Kelly Sell, Imler, 22:30.88. 40-44: 1, Zac Kephart, Duncansville, 18:34.77. 45-49: 1, John Strittmatter, Ebensburg, 20:44.74. 50-54: 1, Andrew Wedel, 20:16.30. 55-59: 1, Jay Ruggery, 24:06.61. 60-64: 1, Geordie Edmiston, 20:26.60. 65-69: 1, Glenn Kagarise, 24:18.59. 70 and over: 1, Brad Westhafer, Mechanicsburg, 31:06.77.

FEMALE

Overall: 1, Allie Guillard, State College, 17:12.77; 2, Chloe May, Bedford, 18:15.82; 3, Ashlyn Noce, Altoona, 18:48.34.

1-5: 1, Nora Kissinger, Hollidaysburg, 40:05.74. 6-8: 1, Paisley Peters, Hollidaysburg, 32:50.78. 9-11: 1, Lucy Hileman, Altoona, 25:15.17. 12-14: 1, Emma Etters, Altoona, 19:22.62. 15-18: 1, Savanna Hershberger, Martinsburg, 19:24.10. 19-24: 1, Lainey Farabaugh, Altoona, 24:12.61. 25-29: 1, Victoria Scutti, Altoona, 20:17.85. 30-34: 1, Emily Hileman, Altoona, 22:00.10. 35-39: 1, Ana Kephart, Duncansville, 22:52.35. 40-44: 1, Paola Rios, Hollidaysburg, 25:52.83. 45-49: 1, Jennifer Bonin, Duncansville, 23:04.20. 50-54: 1, Stacy O’Neill-Pollock, 25:18.61. 55-59: 1, Wendy Carothers, Altoona, 25:27.58. 60-64: 1, Lisa Jacobs, Altoona, 28:06.86. 65-69: 1, Cindi Stanton, Tyrone, 28:47.15. 70 and over: 1, Cathy Ferrero, Cheswick, 38:45.40.

2-MILE WALK

Overall female: 1, Donna Stoltz, Altoona, 20.36.60; 2, Veronique Stern, Duncansville, 22:17.99;; 3, Lisa Appleby, Everett, 24:30.38; 4, Kathy Woods, Hollidaysburg, 24:33.92; 5, Victoria Way, Altoona, 24:54.62; 6, Heather Sjolund, Duncansville, 25:12.57; 7, Sherry Obert, Bedford, 25:50.37; 8, Lila Eamigh, 26:13.12; 9, Addison Dean, 26:13.37; 10, Sara Olivieri, Roaring Spring, 26:24.59.

Overall male: 1, Brody Wiser, Altoona, 23:57.61; 2, Landon Marshall, 25:40.88; 3, Brooks Claar, 25:41.30; 4, Aiden Harf, Altoona, 25:44.12; 5, Corey Husted, 26:53.62.