Another Woodruff 5K in the books
The skies threatened, but the forecasted storms fortunately held off Wednesday night as runners, walkers and youngsters celebrated the 40th running of the annual John Woodruff 5k.
I toed the line that loops South Side and dips into South Connellsville for the 34th time, dating back to my first in 1989. I feel very fortunate my body has allowed me to do so over the decades because, in my mundane day-to-day life, competing in the Woodruff is my social event of the summer.
Plus, I experienced a first in my 34th race.
Did I win the walk? Oh, no, no. Carl Kondrach and a few talented women saw to that, though I did 鈥渕ake the podium鈥� with a top-three finish among the men.
The running joke through 32 walking races and one run (when I paced my nephew Jason Lohr in his first run, who, ironically, is a champion of the walk) was the lack of my name on the door prize list.
You鈥檇 figure at some point the odds would favor me winning something, a gift card, ice cooler, ice cream cone. But, nope. I called the board with the list of the winners 鈥減eople not named Jim Downey.鈥�
Well, no more because the string was broken Wednesday night.聽
My sister Lori approached me with a bit of excitement when I arrived in Shamrock Room at Bud Murphy蘑菇视频 after the race. She had already scanned the board and found my name, No. 6 .. Jim Downey.
The prize was inconsequential. I finally won something! I can now scratch that off the list. Guess all that remains is winning the walk. Oh well, at least I finally won a door prize.
My great-nephew Sawyer Muir competed in his first kids run, albeit as the one-lap was already in progress. No matter. I was to guide him around the track, but my niece Emily Lohr led him to the finish line where he received his certificate and ribbon.
Uncle Jim came through with the funds for a Kona Ice treat. The choice 鈥� Tiger蘑菇视频 Blood.聽
King Physical Therapy was there, so I took advantage with a hamstring/calf stretch from Jarrod King. The Kings have put my body back together through the years, so I figured it couldn鈥檛 hurt. It worked because my legs held up over the demanding 3.1-mile course.
Rob Burchianti蘑菇视频 race story lauded the youth movement in the 40th edition of the race.
It蘑菇视频 nice to see youngsters from the area蘑菇视频 local high schools I cover throughout the school year support the race. They are the present of their high school programs and the future for local road races.
Laurel Highlands sophomore-to-be Matt Schwertfeger found his way through the course to win the 5K run.聽
Southmoreland蘑菇视频 Lexi Ohler, who will be a sophomore in the fall, was the fourth woman in the run. She is a legacy, of sorts. Her dad Steve Ohler was a top distance runner at Connellsville and Saint Vincent College more than a couple decades ago, and, I seem to remember, was the first Connellsville runner, school not resident, to win the run.
Nick Miller, who won the run in 2019, was on stroller detail for the first time. He was telling me of his personal battle with the reigning county cross country champion Zach Bigam. Zach opted out of distance running in the spring to throw the javelin during track season, so when I asked him the last time he ran three miles, he responded with a smile, 鈥淟ast November.鈥�
Nick showed me photos of the finish as he was nipping at Zach蘑菇视频 heels in the final 50 meters. Zach turned on the jets as they neared the finish to avoid any embarrassing future recounting of the 2022 race.
My niece Emily won her age group and had a top-15 finish in the walk. Her brother Brian was fighting an injury, but managed through one more 5K.
And, how wonderful it was to see family and friends gather to help Jamie McPoyle loop the course in a wheelchair despite the recent amputation of his lower leg because of a rare cancer.
I had a chance encounter with his sisters as I was leaving the after-party. They were tuckered, noting their eastern Pennsylvania homes don鈥檛 have the elevation of the demanding course. Both admitted they didn鈥檛 want to let the spirit of the night down, and gutted through to the finish line.
I also pulled alongside, for a little stretch, a young man who was running with a prosthetic leg. He caught his breath and left me in his wake.
Scott Blasey, the lead singer of The Clarks, remarkably was running in his first Woodruff despite growing up within the course. I didn鈥檛 see Scott after the race so I鈥檓 not sure how he navigated his second time around the course.
That蘑菇视频 the nice thing about competing in the Woodruff. Whether to win trophies or beat the clock, enjoy the company of family and friends, or just persevere to the finish line, the 500-plus participants all had a reason why.
And, the South Side and South Connellsville neighborhoods showed up, as they always do, to cheer on everybody, provide drinking water and a spray of water on a hot July night.
It蘑菇视频 a special race celebrating a special man, John Woodruff, 1936 Olympic champion. I鈥檓 hoping to be able to keep chugging along for the 50th anniversary of the race.