Recap 11th annual

This is intended to supplement Julie Black’s fine recap which appears in iPlayOutside.

The Run to Read 5K experienced déjà vu with Heather Parks, Chelsea Clark & Jen Sober finishing 1, 2 & 3 just as they did last year. Parks and Sober also had the first & second best combined times among females running both the 15K & 5K, just as they did last year. (Parks also repeated as winner of the 15K.) On the men’s side in the 5K, Patrick Stanton & Neil Bland improved upon last year’s 3rd & 4th place finishes by placing first and second respectively this year.

Heather Parks set a new record in the 5K for the 30-34 age group with her time of 20:24.4. That time is 3rd best among females since the 5K course was certified in 2002. Jen Sober rewrote the 35-39 age group record with her time of 21:56.5. These times were recorded after both ladies had run the 15K earlier in the morning.

While Chelsea Clark did not break her age group record, she had her best finish in 5 straight Run to Read 5K’s with her time 21:06.3 en route to her 2nd place finish. That time puts Clark 4th on the all time 5K list for the certified era.

The county’s 3 high schools; Fairmont Senior, North Marion and East Fairmont were represented by the first 3 finishers. Patrick Stanton (class of 2010) ran cross country at Fairmont Senior last year while Neil Bland (class of 2009) ran cross country at North Marion last year. Stanton’s time was 17:52.6; Bland’s time was 18:54.8. East Fairmont was represented by William Hunter (class of 1998) whose 3rd place time was 19:09.5. Hunter had the best combined time among the 24 runners who completed both races. Winner of the inaugural Run to Read 5K in 1999, Hunter won the 15K in 2006 and added the combo title to his resume this year. Hunter finished behind Heather Parks in the 15K but prevailed in the 5K. His combined time was 1:20:55.7 (1:01:46.2 + 19:09.5) compared to Parks’ 1:22:06.8 (1:01:42.2 + 20:24.4). Parks finished 2nd oveall.

Other notable performances: Greg Edgell ran 1:04:02.9 which is 8th best all time among men 50 & over in the 15K. (Edgell also has the top time among men 50 & over by running 1:00:05 in 2002.) Duane Dombek, placed 4th best all time among men 60 & over in the 15K with his time of 1:06:18.1 Dombek also placed 2nd all time among men 60 & over with his 5K time of 22:37.6. Sandy Offutt placed 7th best in the certified era (2002 to present) among female masters in the 5K by running 25:12.5. Offutt also holds the female master’s record in the 5K with her time of 24:14 set in 2002. Peggy Corley’s time of 28:29.1 ranks 5th best among women 50 & over for the 5K in the certified era. Jackie Rzepecki, 2nd among females in the 15K, finished 4th all time to date with her time of 1:03:41.4.

New age group records in the “combo” were set by Kanea Amatatsu in the 20-24 age group with her time of 1:34:10.2 and by Heather Parks in the 30-34 age group with her time of 1:22:06.8.

The 5K had a record 114 finishers eclipsing the previous record of 110 finishers which was set in 2007. The official finisher count for the 15K was 67, the 4th best total in the event’s 10 year history. 7 states were represented including West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Maryland, Ohio, Texas & Iowa. The Michigan contingent took runner-up honors in the 15K both for men & women.

26 year old Jessica Bonasso of Fairmont won the 5K walk with her time of 33:46.5. Rudy Vincent, 55, was the men’s winner with his time of 37:32.0. Vincent, also of Fairmont, was 2nd oveall.

The 12th annual Run to Read Races is tentatively scheduled for the 2nd Saturday in June next year. The 5th annual Run to Read Half Marathon is set for Jan 9, 2010.

Race organizers wish to thank all the sponsors, volunteers and participants who helped make the 11th annual Run to Read Races successful.