New Electric Truck Helps FirstEnergy Akron Marathon Run on Clean Energy
A new all-electric truck is helping the FirstEnergy Akron Marathon’s blue line go green. The Ford F-150 Lightening PRO is owned by FirstEnergy and will lead this year’s race winner to the finish line on Saturday, Sept. 28.
The job of the pace car is to stay close to the runners so they can see the clock on the back and keep track of their times. A few miles into the race, a lead runner creates separation and sets the pace for the rest of the course.
This year’s pace truck is one of 19 electric trucks FirstEnergy employees are using to travel to jobsites and respond to outages. The vehicle helps reduce FirstEnergy’s carbon footprint daily, and since it does not produce emissions, marathon participants will avoid running through exhaust during the 26.2-mile race.
View and download photos of FirstEnergy’s all-electric pace truck on the company’s Flickr page.
Driven by Kris Martin, an analyst on FirstEnergy’s Customer Policy & Solutions team, the pace car, which averages speeds of 10-15 mph during the race, will display marathon decals along with the names of 6,500 participants, 100 of whom are FirstEnergy employees.
“We are proud to help keep runners safe and on course while also highlighting how the company is supporting new and cleaner technology,” said Torrence Hinton, President of FirstEnergy Ohio. “We’re excited to keep up with tradition and allow all race participants to find their name on the car once they cross the finish line.”
On average, the electric F-150 can travel about 312 miles after a full charge. The estimated fuel cost savings of using the electric truck is about $4,250 over five years.
The truck is also more cost effective to maintain compared to its gas counterpart and includes several safety improvements. For example, because of the battery’s location, the truck has a lower center of gravity, which decreases the risk of rolling over in the event of a crash.
This isn’t the first time FirstEnergy has showcased a cleaner option for the Akron Marathon’s pace car. Last year, the company used a Tesla as the pace car. Watch a video of the Tesla pace car that led the 2023 FirstEnergy Akron Marathon.
Media Contact: Hannah Catlett 440-554-5346