Saturday, October 25, 2008 -- Morgantown, WV / Caperton Rail Trail, Star City
3rd Annual Alpha Phi Race for Your Heart 10K/5K-MAGP Endurance #8
[Details] [Coverage] [Photos] [Overall Results] [Results by Class] [2007 Results]
Story and photos by Don Parks
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In the 10K event David McCollam didn't seem to mind the wet weather as he blazed the flat rail-trail course in 32:12 with nobody close behind. His closest competitor was Heather Parks (35:47) who finished second overall and easily took first female honors.
Coincidentally, McCollam and Parks both became first time parents earlier this year and are both training for the Philadelphia Marathon to be held in November. While Parks was rather pleased with her time she pointed out that an average of three runners' GPS systems had the course a little short at 6.04 miles rather than the 6.2 equivalent of a 10K.
If she thought that she enjoyed a slight boost from a an early finish
line Calvin Fenton must have thought he was in a dream. The 16
year old easily won the "5K" race in a world class time of 13:53. But
as it turns out the race organizers embarrassingly admitted that they
miss-marked the course and it was actual just 2.3 rather than 3.1 miles.
They did make a sincere promise not to make the same mistake in the future.
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Finishing third overall in the "5K" was Shelley Ralston (15:47) who helped prove that the ladies were not fair weather competitors.
Keeping the ladies on the podium in all the races was Denise Kerns who finished the "5K" walk second overall with a time of 30:37. Handily winning the walk overall was Keith Bailey with a time of 25:05.
The ladies of Alpha Phi thank all those that came out and helped support the national Alpha Phi Foundation and Monongalia General Hospital women's education program. They apologize again for getting the "5K" racers out of the rain a little too quickly, and there is nothing they could do about the weather, but kudos to them for having an amazing abundance of food and drinks after the race. This was only the second time the WVU women of Alpha Phi have organized the race and we're betting their third try is going to be a charm.