The Peace Race Board Members

Meet the people behind the Youngstown Peace Race

Al George

AI is the current president of the Youngstown Peace Race Foundation:

He was born and educated in the Youngstown area, graduating from Youngstown State University with BS and BA in 1981. He has been married  24 years and has two children in college. He is an executive for 30 years in the commercial real estate industry, specializing in retail properties throughout the United States. Al is an avid runner, completing 43 marathons and ultra marathons. He also completed four Boston marathons, most notably the 100^th Boston Marathon.

Natalie Lariccia

Natalie Lariccia serves as the Youngstown Peace Race’s marketing chairwoman. She is a financial advisor and a Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor with Merrill Lynch and a freelance writer. Natalie has been an avid runner for nearly 15 years, running competitively for the past five years. Her favorite distance is a 10K. She has run the Towpath Half Marathon and is looking forward to running another half marathon at the Cleveland Marathon in May.

Mark Sorrentino

Mark Sorrentino is a lifelong area resident currently residing in Austintown. His profession is in orthodics as a licensed pedorthis and the owner of Sorrentino Orthotics. He has been a member of the Peace Race board for six years. He started running in 1976 and has completed 35 marathons and hundreds of other races. Most recently, he has focused on triathlons, including the ironman distance and all other shorter distances. He has been a longtime running and triathlon advocate and recently served as the president of the Steel Valley Triathlon Club.

Terry McCluskey

Terry is a Vienna resident and is retired from HM Health Services. He serves as Vice President of the Peace Race board and is an active competitive runner, earning several accolades for his running accomplishments, including 2005 USA Track and Field Masters Age Division Runner of the Year, 2010 2nd USATF Age Division Runner of the Year. He was also a 2010 Boston Marathon age division winner.

Steve Hixson

A Boardman resident, Steve is the owner of Secold Sole Athletic Footwear and Second Sole Racing. He has been a board member for the past 15 years and is a past board president, but he has been involved with the Peace Race for 29 years. His running PRs include a 4:17 mile; a 15:15 5K; a 31:30 10K and a 2:38 marathon.

Sarah Flament

Sarah is a resident of Poland and is a professional runner for InfiniteRunning.com. Sarah has been a Peace Race board member since 2009. Her hobbies include traveling, painting, and spending time with family & friends

Sarah’s running accomplishments include a 2012 Marathon Olympic Trial Qualifier, 11th American/26th Female in the 2011 Boston Marathon with a time of 2:43:37, and she is a two-time all American in 5k & 10k at UW-La Crosse.

Jonathan Bolha

Jonathan Bolha a.k.a Scooby is an Austintown resident and a civil engineer. He has been a board Member since 2010. His hobbies include cooking, bicycling, skiing & traveling. Scooby’s running PR’s include a 17:16 (5K), 36:33 (10k), 1:20:04 (Half Marathon), 3:09:24 (Full Marathon).

Leanne Ohlin

Leanne has served on the Peace Race board for five years, two of which she served as Secretary; she currently serves as its Treasurer.  She is a Leasing Representative for The Cafaro Company and has been employed there for the past ten years.  She enjoys running, but readily admits that her longest race has been and will likely remain the 10K.

Jesse McClain

Jesse is a Clinical Nurse Specialist, specializing in neurology. Jesse resides in Columbiana and is a 1998 Boardman High School gradate. He graduated from Youngstown State University. Jesse is helping with Peace Race sponsorship efforts and has been a runner since 2008, running several half-marathons. He completed his first marathon in 2010. Married to Danielle McClain, Jesse is a certified wine taster and certified BBQ judge.

Ted Rupe

Ted has been the Peace Race director and a board member since 1992. He has also been a high school track and cross country coach for 32 years, and his teams have won six state championships.  Ted is a winner of the 1986 Cleveland Marathon, the 1990 Honolulu Pro Bowl 5K National Champion, the 1989 Moscow Peace Race 10K Champion and three time alternate member of US International Cross Country Team.  His PRs include a 10K – 28:53, Half Marathon – 64:40, Marathon 2:17:33.  Ted also organizes and directs the finish line for more than 30 races a year in Northeast Ohio.

Becky Rudzik

Becky is an electrical engineer, a cross country and track coach and avid runner for 28 years. A Poland resident, Becky joined the Peace Race board in 2011. She began running at age 12 and has been hooked ever since. She’s been a competitive runner, a just-for-fun runner, an injured runner, and a recovering runner. Her goal is to become an old runner.

Jen Zocolo

Jen is a Boardman resident and a mom, nurse and avid runner. Jen helps with the board’s development and promotion initiatives, and her favorite running memories are “pounding out the miles in Mill Creek Park” with her daughter, Chloe.

Gary Camp

Gary is a retired nurse and Youngstown native. Still a Youngstown-area resident, Gary is an active Peace Race board member and runner. He has been running for nearly 45 years.

Rick Thomas

Rick is a Boardman resident and an attorney/partner at Henderson, Covington and Messenger, Newman and Thomas. Rick has been a consistent runner for more than 30 years.

Joe Sliman

Joe is a Peace Race board member who resides in Boardman. He is employed by the Trumbull County Board of Developmental Disabilities, where he also serves as a Special Olympic coach and volunteer.  He enjoys distance running, multi-sports and functional strength training at the Ironman Warehouse in Youngstown, Ohio.

Leslie Horvath

Leslie Horvath is a Youngstown resident and a Peace Race board member since 2006. He enjoys running and cooking and spending time with his family. He is a finisher of four New York City marathons and many local races.