Saturday, September 30, 2000 -- Morgantown, WV
United Way Downtown 5K
Story and photos by Mike Monroe

[Details] [Coverage] [Overall Results] [Results by Class]
[Pic Set 1] [Pic Set 2] [Pic Set 3] [Pic Set 4]
[1999 Coverage] (Formerly the Corporate Cup 5K)

And they're off!

As I woke up early and packed the truck for the weekend I noticed how foggy it was. The air was so thick that you couldn't see very far at all. I had a hard time finding my truck it the dense cover over Morgantown. Once I finally found my truck and finished packing it I headed toward Maiden Lane. The place was easy to find due to all the runners and walkers blocking the lane of traffic. They were all meandering around and trading tips and information. All of the runners were really excited and were all ready to race through the city streets of Morgantown.

Sam Severino said that everyone was checked in and started to give pre-race instructions. He was the director and coordinator of this race and benefit. He also went on to tell me that the supporters are great and that Genaral Electric (GE) donated two thousand dollars!

Ed Frohnapfel on his way to victory

The race wasn't a real tough one, but it was definitely demanding of the runners and walkers. With the echo of the gun the runners and walkers raced down College Avenue. The all began to break up into different groups as they raced past the Mountain Lair.

Ed Frohnapfel(16:12) led the pack as they turned the corner onto High Street, but he had Derek Clark(16:30) nipping at his heels the whole time. Frohnapfel managed to hold him off, earning the win, while Clark finished just 18 seconds back, and Murshid Latif(16:58) crossed the finish line in third place overall. The pack was very diverse with almost all ages being represented, ranging from 9 to 70 years young.

Heather Bury(17:50) was the first woman to come speeding by. She said she was really busy this week and didn't know how well she was going to do in the race. She's said that before... and after being the fifth person to cross the finish line out of a field of 117 racers, I was thinking that she hasn't lost a thing. Darlene Weaver(20:28) was the second fastest female on the day, while Lynn Huggins(22:22) finished third.

Heather Bury running the streets

They were all extremely excited to be in the race and to be up soooo early on a Saturday morning. As everyone finished and went to look at the results they all seem to gather around the Mini Stage in the Court House Square. On the stage they began to handout door prizes that donators for the race had given to be handed out to the well deserving athletes of the day. Everyone was so pumped to get a prize they each had their own way of making an entrance to collect their prize. Summersaults and cartwheels were the main choice of most of the competitors.

By the time the awards were going to be passed out the temperature had risen to the low 70's. After everyone had collected their trophy and volunteers collected up their stuff they were responsible for the day seemed to look like it was already off to a great, grand and wonderful start. So next year try to break this years number of new entries and race in this great Morgantown race.