SpringfieldNewsSun.com

SPRINGFIELD — Sure, the men's Olympic marathon was a long tiring race, but it seemed even longer for friends gathered Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church on Saturday, Aug. 23. They were waiting to watch Mary run.

Family and friends of Olympic gold medalist Mary Wineberg met at the St. Paris Pike church Saturday to celebrate with the UC grad's in-laws, Tom and Sheryl Wineberg, both of Springfield.

Wineberg's husband, Chris, called his parents from Beijing early Saturday asking if they saw the race in which Wineberg's teammate Sanya Richards passed her Russian counterpart in the final few meters to help win the gold for the women's 4x400 meters relay.

"He called me from the track," Tom Wineberg said as the crowd watched the games on a large screen. "He could only talk for one minute because he was on his cell phone."

Chris called later via an Internet connection to tell them about the race and "how awesome the medal looks," Sheryl Wineberg said.

While most of the guests knew the results before they got to the church, Joyce Collier, who teaches with Sheryl at Simon Kenton Elementary, said she did not want to know until she watched the race.

"I'm hoping for gold, but a medal would be fine," Collier said.

At 10 p.m. Collier still didn't know how the team did — NBC decided to air diving first.

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0347 or kmori@coxohio.com.