No, I wasn’t racing in it. The word ‘elite’ there should have clearly tipped you off to that. That would by my wife, Nan.
This was a really fun event to watch though and take pictures of because the 5K course was 3 out and backs so we got to see all the runners pass 6 times and into the finish. I got a bunch of good shots of a lot of the various runners. If you happen to see your picture here and want the original/bigger digital copy just email me at my full name @ gmail.com and I’ll send it to you.
Congrats to Nan for a huge 5K road PR. Here are the times for the women (6 total..haha). And that sounds like light competition, but it was anything but light as you will notice from the times and pace:
| PLACE | FIRST NAME | LAST NAME | BIB | AGE | DIV | TIME | PACE |
| 1 | BENITA | WILLIS | 261 | 31 | F3039 | 16:21.3 | 5:17 |
| 2 | FIONA | DOCHERTY | 6 | 34 | F3039 | 16:29.2 | 5:20 |
| 3 | NAN | KENNARD | 287 | 28 | F2029 | 16:41.3 | 5:23 |
| 4 | NUTA | OLARU | 21 | 39 | F3039 | 17:16.3 | 5:35 |
| 5 | MICHELE | SUSZEK | 18 | 28 | F2029 | 17:54.6 | 5:47 |
| 6 | DAWN | SCHWARCK | 234 | 25 | F2029 | 19:27.1 | 6:17 |
So I am of course totally proud of and impressed by Nan. Her consistent hard work is showing really strong results. For perspective, Benita Willis was the 2004 World Cross country champion and is the Australian record holder for 5k, 10k, and marathon.
I didn’t pay as much attention to the winning times of the men, since I was obviously focused more on the women’s race. But they were extremely fast also. Below are a bunch of the best shots from the evening that I got.
There seemed to be a general consensus that the race was short a little from 5K, but that perhaps the slowdown from the 6 hair pin turns evened that out a bit. Nan’s GPS read 3.07 miles which isn’t short by much. GZ’s watch said 3.01. In any case it was a great, fast race for Nan.
I met some other nice runners out there, Nick, George, Justin, and a number of others. My kids had fun playing in the mud and climbing retaining walls, and it was just a great way to spend a Wednesday evening in general.
Womens Elite start - a whopping 6 entrants!
All 6 women went out together, that didn't last for long
1 woman has fallen off so far - almost to the 1st mile point which was about 5:20
down to 4 women 1/4 mile later
Now Down to 2 women at the lead coming into the finishing mile, Nan holding strong onto a small gap
Benita Willis takes 1st in 16:22
Fiona Docherty is 2nd in 16:30
And Nan finishes strong in 3rd at 16:42 - huge 5K PR for her.
Nuta Olaru comes in next at 17:17 - Nan and her have been swapping back and forth the last few races this year
OK, OK, I guess I’ll post the guys race photos too. But you know…ladies first after all. (Even though they started them a minute behind the guys which was kind of odd, but whatever).
Here are the top male results (elite masters, then regular elite):
| LACE | FIRST NAME | LAST NAME | BIB | AGE | SEX | DIV | TIME | PACE |
| 1 | JAMES | JOHNSON | 8 | 41 | M | M4049 | 16:19.4 | 5:16 |
| 2 | TIM | GELDEAN | 7 | 41 | M | M4049 | 16:45.5 | 5:25 |
| 3 | GEORGE | ZACK | 20 | 40 | M | M4049 | 17:25.5 | 5:38 |
| 4 | PETER | HEGELBACH | 24 | 45 | M | M4049 | 17:58.8 | 5:48 |
| PLACE | FIRST NAME | LAST NAME | BIB | AGE | DIV | TIME | PACE |
| 1 | ANDREW | LETHERBY | 1 | 36 | M3039 | 14:36.2 | 4:43 |
| 2 | JAMES | BOITT | 3 | 30 | M3039 | 14:45.2 | 4:46 |
| 3 | JOHN | SUPSIC | 17 | 31 | M3039 | 14:55.1 | 4:49 |
| 4 | GREG | REINDL | 14 | 26 | M2029 | 15:04.0 | 4:52 |
| 5 | ADAM | RICH | 15 | 29 | M2029 | 15:13.4 | 4:55 |
| 6 | JAPHETH | NG OJOY | 11 | 22 | M2029 | 15:22.4 | 4:58 |
| 7 | JUSTIN | RICKS | 16 | 30 | M3039 | 15:23.2 | 4:58 |
| 8 | JUSTIN | GINDLESPERGER | 25 | 31 | M3039 | 15:24.4 | 4:59 |
| 9 | EWEN | NORTH | 12 | 32 | M3039 | 15:33.6 | 5:02 |
| 10 | JASON | DELANEY | 5 | 30 | M3039 | 15:36.5 | 5:03 |
| 11 | MATTHEW | KEMPTON | 9 | 25 | M2029 | 15:43.2 | 5:05 |
| 12 | ROBERT W | THAYER | 19 | 26 | M2029 | 15:46.9 | 5:06 |
| 13 | OFER | BARNLY | 2 | 28 | M2029 | 15:52.9 | 5:08 |
| 14 | JUSTIN | MOCK | 10 | 28 | M2029 | 16:16.2 | 5:15 |
| 15 | ANDY | RINNE | 23 | 35 | M3039 | 16:20.6 | 5:17 |
| 16 | NICK | CLARK | 4 | 36 | M3039 | 17:08.6 | 5:32 |
| 17 | NATE | LOW | 178 | 24 | M2029 | 17:18.0 | 5:35 |
Mens Race start
Andrew Letherby comes into the 1st mile leading with 2 others
2 miles in its down to just 1 more at the front with Andrew Letherby
That's a cool shot I thought
Now he's all alone going into the finishing stretch
Nick Clark finishing strong, made sure he wasn't passed by any chicks, not too shabby. (although time-wise he got chicked a couple times but who's counting? and I'm pretty certain none of those chicks ran longs peak yesterday)
George Zack making sure he only got passed by 1 chick! (hey, you have to hand it to him for being here, he ran with a donkey for 29 miles on sunday and took 4th))
The cool down afterwards – a little more laid back running at this point:
Nick Clark and George Zack
my kids captivated by the swamp and climbing of retaining walls
Nan, Not sure, Andrew Letherby, and Benita Willis cooling down
And here are some other reports of the race:
RunColo report, with video
Hey – congrats to Nan, and great meeting you and your family last night!
Aaron – great shots, and fun meeting you last night.
I have to say that while I am thoroughly impressed by your recent 50k exploits, your wife has really been tearing it up of late. It was great to see her hanging with Fiona and Benita for so long, and then staying strong through the final mile or so. Getting to watch the two races unfold like that was easily the funnest part of the race. The running part, not so much.
So is it okay to steal some of those shots to stick up on my blog?
George – Thanks (for nan) and great meeting you also
Nick – likewise, great to meet you too. And it is quite true that Nan is starting to rip it up, its fun to watch her do well and have fun. I have to admit I was happy to be spectating vs. putting myself through the ringer like you guys. It was a fun race to watch. And by all means, steal away! I posted the pics for you all to have and use if you want.
Aaron, nice write up and pics. Is Nan injury free now? She’s definitely looking strong, great to see!
Wish I would have had the chance to meet you, but I’m sure we’ll catch up at a later date.
Thanks
Thanks – sorry we missed meeting you there. Yeah, she got over her winter injury and is getting more and more in better shape, which is nice.
Great to hear, if you she does any races outside of Colorado, shoot me an email with her results and we will be sure to post them in our weekend recap.
sescorcia at runcolo.com