Mild weather, turnout greet Snowden Mile
May 1, 2006 12:50 am
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By KURT NICOLL
Officially, there were five no-shows for the running of the Snowden Downtown
Mile for Mental Health yesterday, but it seemed like the number should have
been much higher.
Despite chilly temperatures and the absence of many of the area's top high
school and college runners (many of whom are competing at their respective
schools at present), the seven-heat event produced a fair share of thrills and
tight finishes among the 226 runners who did compete.
With the memory of his late father still fresh in his mind, Bert Jacoby of
And Debi Bernardes won
her first Fredericksburg Area Running Club event in two years, huffing and
puffing at the end to successfully hold off both Ruth Olson and Cathy Friedel in the end. While happy with her 5:41 finish, the
veteran runner estimated she would have finished roughly 30 seconds behind
Grand Prix leader Johanna Allen of
"The last half mile, I felt more relaxed and stronger," said Bernardes, who captured first place in the Riverbank 12-k
two seasons ago. "I felt kind of out of control the first quarter of the
mile and then thought, 'I don't know if I can keep this up anymore.' You have
to give this race 100 percent as much as you can, compared
with most distance races where you can parcel it out."
Jacoby twice finished behind three-time Downtown Mile kingpin Porter (2002-04)
and admitted he was afraid to look over his shoulder and give his opponent
cause for optimism.
"Mike's extremely talented and you can never discount him in any
situation," he commented. "He's going to push me to do well. I was
running harder knowing Mike was behind me, thinking, 'I have to run faster to
beat Mike.'"
Further incentive came from his father, Albert "Buck" Jacoby, one
of four men who died in a local plane crash in February.
"He's watching me today," the former
At the beginning, no one seemed interested in taking the lead. Jacoby picked
up the pace around 800 meters and Matt Boyd of
By the end, there were only two runners out in front.
"At about three-quarters of a mile, we got to an uphill. When Bert got to
the top, he took off and pulled away," said Porter, who resumes his
collegiate track career this fall at Western State College of
Porter appeared to be in fairly good shape despite taking nearly an 18-month
break from competition. The former
Boyd, who won the opening two FARC races, held his own and placed fourth
overall in 4:45.
Porter was not the only area resident to be resurrecting his running career.
Ethan Erebia competed in his first competitive
race in over a year and enjoyed the experience. And while his 5:55 clocking
didn't win any prizes, he received a nice round of
applause after being recognized for submitting the winning design for the race
T-shirts.
"Physiologically, running gets those hormones going. And besides that,
running is sort of a way to vent--whenever you're upset about something, you go
for a run," the 17-year-old Brooke Point High senior said. "My father
[Victor] and I love to run and it is something we can bond over."
MEET RESULTS
Heat 1 (men's masters, 40-above): 1.
Wayne Hugar (
Heat 2 (men's overall): 1.
Bert Jacoby (
Heat 3 (women's overall): 1.
Debi Bernardes (King
George) 5:41, 2. Ruth Olson (
Heat 4 (boys 12-18): 1.
Trevor Daniel Mathews (
Heat 5 (girls 12-18): 1.
Leah Schubel (
Heat 6 (boys 11-under): 1.
Garrett Horne (
Heat 7 (girls 11-under): 1.
Peyton Curry (
To reach KURT NICOLL:
Email: knicoll@freelancestar.com
Copyright 2006 The Free Lance-Star Publishing Company.
http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006/052006/05012006/187542