Locals shine at the Twin Cities Marathon

Great news from Minnesota: Charlotte's Caitlin Chrisman ran a 2:41:52 at the Twin Cities Marathon to easily meet the "B" qualifying standard (2:47) for the 2012 Women's Olympic Trials Marathon. It was Caitlin's marathon debut.

The 24-year-old former Wake Forest University track star, a Bank of America employee, was the No. 1 American woman and the eighth overall female finisher. Her performance was also notable because she pulled a negative split of 1:21:36/1:20:17.

In an e-mail to me this evening, Caitlin wrote: "This whole weekend has been quite magical. I honestly can't stop smiling about the entire experience. Minneapolis is a beautiful city, with friendly people, and a picturesque landscape. I had the rare opportunity to run in a pack with four other amazing women to work together to achieve our qualifying goal. The synergy that we created was unlike anything I've ever experienced and such that I will never forget. My goal was to have fun, and I surpassed that goal ... I had a BLAST! The support after the race from my family, friends, and fellow Charlotte runners served as the cherry on top." (To read more about her race experience, check out her blog here.)

Caitlin was among several locals who joined more than 8,000 participants in kicking off the fall marathon season at Sunday morning's race in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Here are official finish times for the 20 greater Charlotte-area runners who braved the cold temperatures to complete the 26.2-mile distance. (For complete results, click here.)

Bill Shires, 45, Charlotte, 2:40:02

Caitlin Chrisman, 24, Charlotte, 2:41:52

Mike Beigay, 32, Concord, 2:47:16

Adam Mayes, 30, Cornelius, 3:08:46

Aregai Girmay, 51, Gastonia, 3:09:18

Bryan Allf, 53, Gastonia, 3:11:15

Dan Hochberg, 47, Charlotte, 3:20:11

Gerald Hutchinson, 50, Charlotte, 3:26:56

Fred Levy, 49, Gastonia, 3:32:34

Cliff Weston, 47, Huntersville, 3:37:46

Eduardo Regner, 29, Charlotte, 3:49:26

Janea Sweet, 34, Charlotte, 3:59:46

Joseph Becquer, 47, Charlotte, 4:04:50

Rod Brostrom, 54, Huntersville, 4:06:38

Andy Beach, 40, Denver, 4:16:06

Gregory McDowell, 53, Charlotte, 4:30:34

Audra Hausser, 37, Charlotte, 4:45:40

Stephanie Sheridan, 27, Charlotte, 5:03:30

Anita Brown, 50, Davidson, 5:16:26

George Bryan, 60, Hickory, 5:34:31