Race 4 Fitness 10K/5K

Lenoir, NC, October 30, 1999

Complete 10K/5K Results

Compiled and Submitted by Jason Childers

The First Annual Race 4 Fitness, held in Lenoir, NC, attracted 91 runners and plenty of spectators as well. This event offered a 10K, 5K and fun run mile. The race, put on by Altrussa of Caldwell County, was a fund-raiser for the groups support of Communities in Schools (CIS). CIS provides mentors for at risk students in seven area middle and high schools. These mentors serve as role models, tutors, and provide a positive adult influence.

It was a cool morning as the festivities kicked off in the Old Lenoir Mall parking lot. The runners warmed up with sweats, but as race time approached, they realized that it was warming up to the point where sweats were unnecessary. The 5K and 10K courses for the Race 4 Fitness are run together for the first 2.85 miles. At that point, the 5K returns for the finish and the 10K continues in a new direction. There is a beautiful golf course followed by a ½ mile loop around the Lenoir Walking Park just beyond the 1 mile mark. Elevation is best described as flat with 3 or 4 slight hills. Both courses are very fast!

In the Male 5K, a early dual began between Scott Hale (Waynesville) and Rodney Jackson (Boone). They both passed the one mile mark 5:15 and continued to hold the pace around the pond. Quez Little (Morganton) was only a few seconds off the leaders mile pace and he was followed by a tight pack of 6 runners. Around the pond, runners are able to view the distance of those ahead of them and it was clear that Hale felt he needed to lengthen the gap. Running the second mile in 5:33 (10:48), Hale cleared himself of some breathing room but Jackson (10:58) was still easily within striking distance with 1.1 miles to go. Quez Little, Tyler Wilkinson, and TJ Kenny rounded out the top 5 at the 2 mile mark, all of them passing it around 11:35. The finish is great for spectators as the runners enter the lot, they still have a straight-a-way of about 250 meters so that led to some exciting races at the end. Scott Hale held his 10 second lead over Rodney Jackson and went on to win in a time of 16:26.0. Jackson’s time was huge PR of 16:37.9. Quez Little took third with an 18:00 run. Leon Lewis (Boone) and Clay Walker (Statesville) had the closest age group race (55-59). A great finish line stride by Lewis gave him the 4 second edge over Walker for the win in a time of 20:18.

In the Female 5K, there was tight person race brewing between Mary Millar (Hickory), Jill Greer (Hudson), and Naomy Younce (Lenoir). All 3 ladies passed the mile mark around 7:05 and it appeared at that point to be anyone’s race. The lead flip-flopped a couple of times between Greer and Millar as they both separated themselves from Younce on the second mile. Lynn Mason and Ellen Logan (age group 40-44) were also having a close race of their own. Over the final mile, Jill Greer (22:03) gradually pulled away just enough to coast in 9 seconds ahead of Mary Millar (22:12). In the 40-44 age group race, Mason was able to finish 8 seconds ahead of Logan as both had great races!

The Male 10K had some fast times (the result of running the first half of their race with the 5K participants). Florida resident Michael Peck rested a comfortable 10 seconds behind the 5K leaders for the first 2 miles and then began to pick up the pace. Gaining 5 seconds on the leaders before the 5K turnoff, Peck stretched out his pace over the last half of the race, kicking in a time of 33:53. Cecilio Castillo (Morganton) had about 10 seconds on a pack of 4 runners around the 3 mile mark and he too began to turn on the speed at that point (37:27). Rance Logan, Gary Ledford, Greg Kiziah, and Patrick Ferree were all within 10 seconds of each other up to the 4 mile mark. Runners in the 10K get another great chance to see their competition at the turnaround point (close to the 4.5 mile mark). It was here that Gary Ledford (Hickory) made a couple of steps towards pulling away from the pack. He was able to hold his move and finish in 3rd at a time of 38:13.

The Female 10K showed some very impressive performances and Personal Records across the board. Hickory runners Katie Ledford (42:47.2) and Susan Hesterburg (44:53.9) led respectively the entire race. Ledford paced with the 5K leaders for the first 2.85 and then proceeded to pick up her pace, similar to the male 10K. Maria Higgins (Hickory) and Meleah Goulds (Lenoir) ran a consistent pace with each other and turned their race into one of perseverance as Higgins was able to outsprint Goulds to the final tape in a time of 52:19.

All winning times were course records and there were a considerable amount of personal records as well. The 5K course is thought to be .03 short which could add from 10 20 seconds onto total time, however the 10K course is accurate. Plans are being made to have both courses certified. Overall place listings, age group awards, and quotes from runners are included.

5K-M NAME TIME CITY/STATE Mile Ave 1. Scott Hale 16:26.0 Waynesville NC 5:18 2. Rodney Jackson 16:37.9 Boone NC 5:21 3. Quez Little 18:00.0 Morganton NC 5:47 4. TJ Kenny 18:34.7 Boone NC 5:58 5. Tyler Wilkinson 18:35.5 Boone NC 5:58 6. Ted Hubbard 19:15.6 Lenoir NC 6:12 7. Richard Watson 19:33.9 Boone NC 6:16 8. John Mason 19:46.9 Boone NC 6:21 9. Leon Lewis 20:18.0 Boone NC 6:32 10. Clay Walker 20:22.2 Statesville NC 6:34 11. Eddie Moore 21:08.0 Morganton NC 6:48 12. Luther Thompson 21:50.0 Elkin NC 7:04 13. Scott Helms 22:01.5 Newton NC 7:08 14. Mike Scitione 22:46.0 Hickory NC 7:26 15. Chris Hawn 22:47.4 Granite Falls NC 7:27 16. Mark Kleinke 23:30.4 Hickory NC 7:34 17. Tom Kenny 24:16.3 Boone NC 7:45 18. Frank Lewis 24:34.0 Lenoir NC 7:54 19. Charles Ellis 25:12.7 Boone NC 8:09 20. Erik Midkiff 25:44.3 Boone NC 8:19 21. Tom Watson 26:02.6 Newton NC 8:24 22. Dexter Young 26:13.5 Hickory NC 8:28 23. Byron Loga 30:35.1 Hickory NC 9:53 24. Danny Segal 33:47.2 Morganton NC 10:55

5K-F 1. Jill Greer 22:03.4 Hudson NC 7:08 2. Mary Millar 22:12.7 Hickory NC 7:10 3. Naomy Younce 22:43.5 Lenoir NC 7:25 4. Kati Lockhardt 23:32.2 Lenoir NC 7:34 5. Lynn Mason 23:53.6 Boone NC 7:39 6. Lisa Anderson 23:56.1 Conover NC 7:41 7. Ellen Logan 24:05.7 Hickory NC 7:43 8. Linda Walsh 25:29.9 Blowing Rock NC 8:14 9. Amy Durrer 25:50.1 Hudson NC 8:21 10. Wendy Brown 26:28.2 Hickory NC 8:32 11. Virginia Knight 26:58.2 Morganton NC 8:41 12. Holly Collins 28:44.6 Morganton NC 9:08 13. Michelle Joyner 30:44.4 Hickory NC 9:56 14. Dorothy Sides 30:53.0 Lenoir NC 9:59

10K-M 1. Michael Peck 33:53.8 Ormond Florida 5:25 2. Cecilio Castillo 37:27.6 Morganton NC 6:03 3. Gary Ledford 38:13.8 Hickory NC 6:10 4. Rance Logan 38:24.9 Hickory NC 6:11 5. Greg Kiziah 38:37.0 Hickory NC 6:13 6. Patrick Ferree 38:44.1 Winston-Salem NC 6:14 7. Rodney Lee 39:47.1 Lenoir NC 6:24 8. Joe Grant 41:37.9 Hickory NC 6:42 9. Shawn Pendergrass 41:39.9 Morganton NC 6:42 10. Jim Farrin 42:11.0 Durham NC 6:47 11. Mark Annas 42:35.2 Granite Falls NC 6:52 12. Barry Carswell 42:36.1 Coney Springs NC 6:52 13. Jaberg Hans 42:40.7 Charlotte NC 6:53 14. Randy Owens 42:45.3 Morganton NC 6:54 15. Larry Joe Greene 42:54.7 Burnsville NC 6:55 16. Scott Miller 43:01.2 Hickory NC 6:56 17. Frank Cooper 44:41.7 Morganton NC 7:06 18. Mike McCall 45:11.6 Hudson NC 7:11 19. Chris Thorpe 45:14.9 Conover NC 7:11 20. Ira Bradley 45:30.6 Statesville NC 7:14 21. Steve Butler 46:17.4 Conover NC 7:21 22. Ronald Wilcox 47:18.1 Lenoir NC 7:34 23. Anthony Vance 47:41.5 Icard NC 7:38 24. Kenneth Miller 48:10.1 Lenoir NC 7:42 25. Harold Blankenship 49:26.8 Lenoir NC 7:55 26. Wilton Scrounce 50:44.8 Vale NC 8:10 27. George Hazlett 54:43.1 Mathews NC 8:39 28. David Greene 55:28.4 Hudson NC 8:47 29. Jonathon Nelson 55:53.4 Lenoir NC 8:50 30. Bob Rogers 56:43.0 Tawas ?? 8:54 31. Steven Schoeberle 59:17.2 Morganton NC 9:15 32. Steve Byrd 59:30.6 Glen Alpine NC 9:17

10K-F 1. Katie Ledford 42:47.2 Hickory NC 6:54 2. Susan Hesterburg 44:53.9 Hickory NC 7:08 3. Gabrielle Scrounce 47:25.5 Vale NC 7:35 4. Jane Scanlon 50:20.7 Boone NC 8:06 5. Maria Higgins 52:19.5 Hickory NC 8:25 6. Meleah Goulds 52:21.9 Lenoir NC 8:25 7. Regina Delisse 52:39.4 Boone NC 8:28 8. Nancy Gribbs 54:03.2 Black Mountain NC 8:33 9. Kathy Case 55:51.1 Boone NC 8:50

Fun Run Mile (with Mentors) John Melton 7:29 Justin Hester 7:30 Todd Sherwood 7:30 Stanley Lewis 8:52 Jerry Donaldson 8:52 R.J. Franklin 10:20 Stanley ??? ???

QUOTES FROM THE DAY

“The 10K course was great you can see that there is great community involvement here.”
Harold Blankenship, 10K

“I liked everything. Great weather, beautiful scenery, and the course offers a variety. It’s got some flats and some hills.”
Linda Walsh, 5K

“Really good race today. I enjoyed the hills as well as the cool morning.”
Greg Kiziah, 10K

“The hills weren’t bad at all. I felt that the course offered an opportunity to run a fast time.”
Rodney Jackson, 5K

“Very nice course very scenic.”
Michael Peck, 10K winner

“I liked the course. Hills and flats made it very fast.”
Cecilio Castillo, 10K

“Course was excellent mix of hills was good, and the temperature was perfect for racing.”
Rance Logan, 10K

“Course was a little hilly but I’m very impressed for this being a first annual event.”
Leon Lewis, 5K

“This was a great course. It was a little hilly but that’s why I think I liked it so much.”
Katie Ledford, 10K winner

“Today was well worth the planning. The event was very organized and the police station was very cooperative in guarding the course. The turnout was great and this should this become an annual event, it is certainly one for all runners to put on their racing calendar.”
Jason Childers, race volunteer

“I’m absolutely overwhelmed by the turnout today. It turned out to be a great day for racing and it’s always good to see such help as we received from the community. I’m very pleased with the event and we saw some excellent performances as well.”
Jackie Clarkson, race director