|
Older reports are in Archives
May 11 Highlights
* Clayton Hemphill, pictured above right, won the Run To Fund 5K for the second consecutive year, and Kim Rogers-Tracy, also pictured above, won the female 5K title. There also was a 10K at the run that finished on the track inside the Buddy Echols Stadium in Coppell, and participants had a chance to see themselves on the stadium's big screen as they glided across the finish line. See Fiona Green's report below Buffalo Boogie report.
* One of the top area runners, Andrew Cook of Flower Mound, ran his first race since Dec., 2011. Read the Buffalo Boogie report below for more details.
* Jessica Smith, 35, of Trophy Club continues to add to her female overall trophy collection, and this time she dipped under 18 minutes for the 5K with a chip time of 17:59.7 at the Run For Sarah 5K in Fort Worth. She was only about 30 seconds behind overall male winner Dylan Miller, 17, of Grand Prairie.
* Masters runner Lisa Warechowski, 47, of Allen won the overall female title at the Head for the Cure 5K in Plano by running a 21:18.3.
* Mike Fussell at 55 still is showing good speed. The Kennedale resident won the male masters award at the Run For the Fund 5K in Coppell with an 18:33.
* Brooklyn Allison, an 11-year-old, won the overall female title at the Hero Run 5K in Mesquite with a 22:05.
***
Andrew Cook wins Buffalo Boogie
in first race in more than a year
See Slideshow
Note race results have been updated to reflect that
David Strome, a Colleyville Heritage freshman, finished second
with a 16:26.3
Andrew Cook, (pictured above with daughter Natalie) track and cross country coach at Flower Mound High School and one of the fastest runners in the area, ran and won his first race since December, 2011, at the Buffalo Boogie 5K on warm Saturday morning (May 11). Andrew, who just missed qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials at the California International race in Dec, 2011, had planned to take some time off, but he hadn't planned for a hernia operation and physical problems that sidelined him for more than a year. Andrew ran a 16:03.5 (16:02.8 chip time) to take the male title over a revised course at the Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge. Natalie, 10, won her age division with a 25:15. Overall winner of the female division was Katie Canavin, 19, with a 19:59 (19:56.6 chip time). Male masters winner Gary Anderson, 51, of Fort Worth and who has competed several times at the event, said the course change made for a harder run because much of the last mile goes up an incline. ''It probably adds 15 to 20 seconds for most runners,'' he said. Although the temperature was warming during the morning, he and others were appreciative of the start being beneath a canopy of trees. Gary finished with an 18:58.1. Jayme Dennis, 46, of Fort Worth won the female division with a 22:43.4. This was Cook's first time to compete in the event and he said he enjoyed the tree-shaded one-loop course around the center, and expects to be making more appearances at races. Andrew said he was disappointed about not making the Trials because he was on pace to qualify until he crashed with three miles remaining. ''I could have slowed down to 5:30 or slower and made it,'' he said. ''But I was reeling off 5:17 miles and kept going.'' That is until he hit the wall and then he more or less staggered to the finish. Because of the disappointment of not making the Trials after a concerted effort, he decided to take off for awhile....just not for more than a year.
***
Run To Fund participants could see themselves
styling across the finish line
See photos
By Fiona Green
Over 1,000 runners showed up to participate in the The Run to Fund 5K and 10K races in Coppell on Saturday, May 11. The day started with a 1-mile kids' fun run, which started and finished at the Buddy Echols stadium at Coppell High School. This was followed by the 5K and 10K, where runners finished by completing a loop on the track. For those who were interested and still able to focus, there was the possibility of seeing themselves on the big screen, looking good as they crossed the finish line.
Overall 5K winner was defending champion 19-year-old Clayton Hemphill, a student at Coppell High. Although his 17:03 fell short of his 16:30 PR, he was pleased to be able to represent his school on the podium. His time was incidentally over a minute and a half faster than his winning time last year. Female winner was Kim Rogers-Tracy, whose 19:20 finish placed her 2 minutes ahead of runner-up 14-year-old Ashley Scrivner. Scrivner, who has a PR of 20:30, had been battling a stomach virus for the past two weeks and was happy with her time of 21:24.
Masters women dominated in the 10K with four of the top five women falling into the 40 and above category. Overall female winner was 45-year-old Susan Whiting of Coppell, who completed the course in 41:33, good enough for 4th overall. Susan was the Masters winner in the 5K at this event last year. Overall male winner was 18-year-old Shane Murray, who zipped through the course in a speedy 35:23.
***
Vineyard Run had music, wine tasting,
but timing glitch left bad taste for some
By Fiona Green
(See more photos)
The Vineyard 5k Run at Delaney Vineyards on Saturday (May 4) had all the elements of a great race -- perfect weather, a challenging, hilly course and affable race announcer Cliff Couch. Not only that but after exerting themselves, runners were able to relax to live jazz music from Gloria D'Arezzo and Friends and sample some of the vineyard's delicious wines. There was, however, one glitch that left a bad taste in the mouths of some runners -- the race results. There were none! The timing company apparently had recently purchased new equipment that was so sensitive that when runners ran beside the start /finish line about half-a-mile into the race, a signal was picked up, resulting in some very interesting times. Results were finally posted on Sunday afternoon.
One group of runners did not seem to mind or even notice the absence of an awards ceremony. Running their first 5K, 37 employees of Hawaiian Falls Water Parks (pictured above) were taking part in the race as a team building project. The idea came from company vice president Evan Barnett who had decided with his wife to use the Couch To 5K app on his phone to get in shape. They invited others to join them and the response was overwhelming. Judging by the smiles on everyone's faces as they posed for post race photos, a good time was had by all. While some felt relieved that the race was over and the mission had been accomplished, others were already considering signing up for a 10K.
Overall winners at Saturday's race were 28-year-old Natalie Merrell and 25-year-old Andrew Deveraux. Natalie's time of 18:50 was about 30 seconds slower than her most recent 5K. She explained she actually prefers longer races as she doesn't feel she is running fast when she runs a 5K. Many of us would disagree. Deveraux, a tech rep for Brooks, is comfortable with the 5K and 10K distances although his time of 17:43 was about a minute slower than his usual time. As his job requires him to participate as a vendor at many racing events, he was happy to finally be able to participate in a race. Masters winners were Michael Fussell and Cora Turner.
**
Other May 4-5-9 Highlights
* The week ended Thursday night (May 9) with the Katy Trail 5K in Dallas, and more than 3,000 participated, including many of the area's top speedsters. Dawn Grunnalge, 35, of Dallas and who competes nationally as well as locally, won the women's race with a 17:35.7. She handedly beat a talented field. Runner-up Ashley Kisko, 24, of Dallas finished with an 18:52.7. In the men's race, Jacob Phillips, 29, of Dallas, posted a fast 15:11 to win overall. That left a race for second and Jared McNeil, 25, of Keller claimed the runner-up spot with a 16:22.7 with Eric Dean, 33, of Dallas about 12 seconds behind.
* It's not unusual for Bob Smeby of Dallas to win or challenge for male masters title, but on occasion the 56-year-old will outrace everyone for the overall award. It happened again at the Derby Run in Plano when Bob ran an 18:42.8. The results show that the next two finishers were female overall winner Mack Abernathy, 23, of Plano (19:34.1) and female masters winner Sheila Natho, 47, of Dallas (19:51.3).
* The Fort Worth Mayfest 10K, 5K again was loaded with a fast field. Kolin Styles, 26, of Weatherford and who owns a Cowtown Marathon title among his several victories, won the male race with a 34:06.7, and Elizabeth Eder, 41, of Fort Worth and who has this year's Cowtown Marathon trophy among her several overall awards, won the female race in 37:38.5. And it was impressive that 7-year-old Cade Higgins of Fort Worth won the male 10-younger division with a 58:00.1. In the 5K, there were several notable achievements. Jessica Smith, 35, of Trophy Club and winner of several races including last week's Irving Marathon 5K, broke the 18-minute barrier for a 17:58.6 to win the female trophy to add to her growing collection. Male winner Joshua Pauley, 21, zipped in with an impressive 15:56.9. And the female masters winner was Cathy Buchanan. The 51-year-old continues to post speedy times as she finished in 20:41.5. Male masters winner was Bob Scully, 53, of Fort Worth with a 20:04.5.
* Another young runner, 12-year-old Edgar Avila, logged an speedy time as he won the 11-14 age division of the Carrollton Trail 5K with an 18:19. His time has been corrected from 18:03. The event, a point-to-point was well received by participants and Carrollton Runners Club member and event timer Ruben Saguil said it could grow in participation once word spreads. Many runners like point-to-point races, such as Hit The Bricks in Fort Worth before its venue was moved and format changed.
* The Cinco de Miler 5-Mile Run in Dallas provided exciting races for the male and female titles. In the dash for first in the female race, masters runner Angela Eusery, 45, of Grand Prairie finished 34 seconds ahead of 29-year-old Kristi Walthall of Coppell with a time of 33:18. In the male race, Paul Noone, 30, of Boston caught masters runner James Jackson, 47, of Denton and pulled ahead for a 26-second victory with a 27:12. Among the notable times in some of the older age groups, 73-year-old Bies Vanbesien of Dallas averaged 7:43 a mile to post a 38:34, the same time as 73-year-old Wally Capps of Farmers Branch. However, Vanbesien eked out first place. Also, Kathleen Knuettel, 68, of Dallas won the female 65-68 age division with a 38:44. She clipped along at a 7:45 pace.
|
