Starting at the five-mile mark, and doing the Bikeway in reverse, the goal is to predict a time, and to finish as close to that time as possible. Watches and headphones are not allowed. Entry fees to all three races are two cans of people or pet food, donated to charity.

The Lake Matoaka Trail Challenge 4.3 Miler was on Aug. 13 and has several distinctions. The race was founded in the mid 1970s by the late John Randolph, then the William & Mary track and cross country coach, and later the Tribe athletic director. It is also the longest continually held road race on the Peninsula.

The race starts and finishes in front of Zable Stadium, goes through campus for one mile, then does two miles on the challenging, hilly and rooty Lake Matoaka trails, exits the college woods on Mill Neck Road, then after the Jamestown Road hill, takes a left back onto campus, past Crim Dell, to the finish where it started. Although officially a fun run, there was some very serious competition this year among many of Williamsburg’s fastest road runners.

The final race in the series was the Aug. 20 Swamp Bridge 5K on the other side of Newport News Park. Starting on Constitution Avenue, the 3.1-mile race is on the roads for a half mile, then does the very rooty Swamp Bridge trail, exiting on the long wooden pedestrian bridge across the Newport News Park reservoir, for a final quarter mile sprint to the finish.

It traditionally is a great tune up for the high school cross country season, and this year had a large contingent of Tabb and York High cross country runners joining forces with the usual PTC racers.

At the prediction run, the winner was Gabi Lingenfelter, 61, of Poquoson, whose predicted time was 59:50, only six seconds off her 59:56 finish. Second was Jeanne Fiocca, 52, of Yorktown, who predicted 50:45 and ran 50:30. And the final award winner (door prizes collected from race director Susan Hagel) was Jason Kirkpatrick, 45, of Williamsburg, who predicted 41:00 and ran 40:38. Kirkpatrick also was the second runner across the finish line, trailing only Steve Kast, 59, of Yorktown, who ran a 38:17, but had predicted 38:59. The first female across the finish line was Megan Syrett, 41, of Yorktown, who ran 45:26, but had predicted 47:25.

The Lake Matoaka Trail Challenge had the fastest competition in years. The top six men and top two women were all below 30 minutes on the difficult course, and all were from Williamsburg. Finishing just 11 seconds apart were the top three—John Vogel, 22 (25:05), Sean Bush, 34 (25:10) and Rylan Flint, 25 (25:16). Close behind were the next three—Erik Stauderman, 24 (25:41), Scott Ickes, 42 (26:09) and Collin Anderson, 24 (26:54).

The top two women were next, Emma Rogers, 24 (27:58) and Shannon McMaster, 26 (28:35). Spencer Norman, 35, of Richmond (30:09), Dave Anderson, 54, of Williamsburg (30:40) and Kip Smith, 47, of Williamsburg (31:57) were ninth through 11th overall, followed by the third and fourth-place women, Lisa Osterhoudt, 41, of Williamsburg (32:56) and Paige Baranik, 33, of Williamsburg (33:04). Megan Syrett, 41, of Yorktown was the final award winner (top 5 men and women) with a 36:18. There were 44 finishers.

At the Swamp Bridge 5K on the White Oak Trail, the race was dominated by some of the top high school cross country runners this season. Connor Wick, 16, of Yorktown won in 17:36, followed by Johnny Nemec, 16, of Seaford (17:42), Gavin West, 16, of Yorktown (17:45) and Diego Munoz-Torres, 17, of Hampton (18:43).

For the women, the top four were Haley Uliasz, 29, of Newport News (21:50), Kimaya Stephens, 13, of Yorktown (21:51), Madline Adams-Brady, 16, of Yorktown (24:19) and Megan Syrett (24:37).

According to York High coach Thomas Tate, Nemec and West are the top two on the York men’s team this year, while Wick and Munoz-Torres are Tabb’s top two. Stephens is only an eighth grader, so not yet able to compete for York High, although she is their fastest runner now. Adams-Brady is Tabb’s top returnee. Both teams were missing half their team due to school open houses.

Sean Bush had won the 2023 Lake Matoaka Challenge in 26:10 and was exactly one minute faster this year for the runner-up spot.

He emailed, “I’ve run the race the last 3 years in a row, and what keeps me coming back is that I always look forward to the challenge of the course and appreciate the no frills simplicity of the race atmosphere. Just show up after work with some canned goods to donate, sign your name on a clipboard when you arrive, and await the gun. I knew that many of my friends who belong to the same training group were planning to be there this year, which made it a more exciting prospect to push each other in a friendly competition. The weather was not cool by any means, but much better than the previous two years by comparison.”

“The race went out quick, with John Vogel and Rylan Flint stringing everyone out immediately as we headed from Zable to the trailhead. Collin Anderson and Scott Ickes followed in chase, and then Erik Stauderman and myself, forming the second chase group. Erik and I were shoulder to shoulder coming out of the gate onto Mill Neck, where down the road I could finally see John and Rylan for the first time since we’d entered the woods. I pressed hard down the “S” curve on Mill Neck and then made the left-hand turn onto Jamestown Rd., where I could see John and Rylan maybe two-thirds of the way up the climb. It felt nice to be on solid ground again. I knew there wasn’t much to go once Jamestown Rd flattened back out, so I gave it whatever I had left. I was able to reel Rylan in just after we turned onto Landrum, but John was just a bit too far ahead, and maintained his pace through the finish. The top 5 this year finished under the winning time from last year, so it was a much more competitive event this time. I look forward to participating again next summer!”

Flint emailed, “The Matoaka race was a lot of fun! I wanted to do it because I really enjoy the trail for easy runs and thought it would be a fun race course. John and I were leading through the woods. When we got out of the woods he went by me and just rolled over the hill on Jamestown Road. Sean slowly reeled me in on the Jamestown Road stretch and then went by me right before the turn onto campus. It was a super fun time, glad so many people turned out for it!”

Race director Susan Hagel emailed, “I think this was the best weather I’ve experienced in all my years of directing this race. No rain, no storms, low humidity–it doesn’t get better than that in August. As far as times go, this year was more competitive than last year. 8 people finished in under 30 minutes.  Of those 8 people under 30 minutes, 2 of them were women. Six were in their 20s. We haven’t had this many younger runners in a while.”

“Last year Sean Bush won the race in 26:10, this year he was a minute faster (25:10) but finished in 2nd place. Last year, the first woman (Svitlana Honcharova) finished in 32:36. This year, the first woman finished 4 and a half minutes faster than that in 27:58 (Emma Rogers). Overall, there were 5 more finishers this year than last year, so numbers are coming back up since the pandemic.”

Rick Platt is president of Colonial Road Runners.

Ironically, Marie Shay, 68, of Williamsburg, the sole record breaker at Vineyards, was not one of those at Landfall, but that’s because she set too high a bar herself the previous year.

The Vineyards race has a set of exceptionally strong age group records, with traditionally strong competition going back to 1993 (including course records of 14:37 for the men and 16:51 for the women by former William & Mary All-Americans Matt Lane and Cheryl Bauer).

Shay bettered her 2023 time of 26:29 with a 26:03. At Landfall, she improved that 5K to 25:54, but had run a faster 25:32 in 2023.

The Landfall age group records are from a combination of eight different Colonial Road Runners Grand Prix events, all on the same Landfall at Jamestown neighborhood course, with a start/finish at the beginning of the Virginia Capital Trail, and an out-and-back course, which is USATF certified an exact 5K distance (VA-22029-RT), eligible for state and national records.

Those races include the WISC Gymnastics Flipping 5K in 2018-19, the HEART Run 5K in 2021, the Weighted Angels 5K in 2021-23, and the Raising the Roof 5K in 2023-24. The Weighted Angels 5K has been a Virginia RRCA state championship race, and has featured a number of state 5K records.

The 13th CRR Grand Prix race of 2024 was directed by Julia Kocev and Darragh Cutshaw and the Williamsburg Realtors, to benefit Habitat for Humanity Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg, with all proceeds benefiting construction of a safe and affordable house in James City County. The registration, packet pickup, refreshments and awards ceremony were all in the JCC Marina Meadow, across the street from the Jamestown Settlement parking lot, and adjacent to the VCT starting line. A one mile fun run preceded the main event.

The record breaking started with the top three women overall. Emily Honeycutt, 33, of Newport News won in 18:49, breaking her own Landfall women’s 30-34 age group record of 18:52 from 2022. Isabella Curtis, 15, of Suffolk, a Peninsula Catholic sophomore, was second in 19:12, bettering the previous women’s 15-19 record of 19:31 in 2023 by Olivia DeCarlo, 19, of Annandale. And another Isabella (Strumke), 10, of Toano, broke her own women’s 14-and-under record of 19:54 from last year with a time of 19:43 for third place.

Following those three in the women’s top 10 were Tricia Murphy, 43, of Williamsburg (20:45), Aimee Gianoukos, 48, of Williamsburg (21:49), Karen Grabowski, 40, of Toano (22:11), Katherine Wease, 35, of Williamsburg (22:47), Deelyn Robinson, 58, of Williamsburg (23:36), Connie Glueck, 60, of Williamsburg (23:44) and Tori Otstot, 39, of Williamsburg (24:45).

Murphy broke the women’s 40-44 record of Yorktown’s Megan Syrett (21:22 in 2023) with her 20:45, just one second off her lifetime PR. Glueck smashed the 2021 record of Williamsburg’s Norma Phillips (25:48 in 2021) by more than two minutes with her 23:44.

The final women’s age group record was set by Carol Hansen-Vessa, 70, of Williamsburg, whose 29:34 topped the previous mark of 29:42 by Williamsburg’s Jan Barry in 2023. Hansen-Vessa ran by her Mason Park neighborhood on the Jamestown Road service road, a half mile from the start/finish.

None of the top three overall men broke age group course records, although winner Roger Hopper, 33, of Chesapeake did break the Raising the Roof race record of 15:55 by Adam Otstot last year, with his 15:39. Otstot, 42, of Williamsburg, returning to training after an ankle injury at June’s Night Owl 9K, was second in 16:19, with Jordan Spector, 37, of Virginia Beach third in 17:50.

The remainder of the men’s top 10 were Jack Strumke, 14, of Toano in 19:11 (outkicking Isabella Curtis at the finish line), Kelvin Anderson, 63, of Newport News (19:55), Kyle Aulenbach, 47, of Yorktown (20:09), Andrew Carroll, 11, of Talking Rock, Ga. (20:19), Brian Fries, 36, of Yorktown (20:31), William Huff, 54, of Williamsburg (21:16) and Orlando Perez, 62, of Newport News (22:02).

On an age graded basis, as compiled by CRR statistician Jim Gullo, an impressive five runners bettered the national-class standard of 80%, headlined by Isabella Strumke (87.45%), then Adam Otstot (84.18%), Hopper (82.63%), Kelvin Anderson (81.82%) and women’s runner up Curtis (80.61%).

Bettering 75% age graded were Shay (79.13%), Honeycutt (78.48%), Ken Mitchell, 79, of Williamsburg (25:56, 78.18%), Glueck (77.93%) and Deelyn Robinson (76.50%). Also above the regional standard of 70% were Murphy (74.36%), Spector (74.24%), Gianoukos (73.96%), Perez (73.31%), Carroll (72.68%), Patricia Travis, 73, of Williamsburg (30:44, 71.52%), Hansen-Vessa (71.24%), Huff (70.96%), Aulenbach (70.81%), Jack Strumke (70.64%), Chris Abelt, 68, of Williamsburg (24:10, 70.59%), and Tom Robinson, 66, of Williamsburg (23:47, 70.39%).

The one men’s course record that was broken was by race walker Alexey Popov, 41, of Newport News, whose winning time of 28:21 bettered his previous record of 29:01 from 2023.

Women’s winner Honeycutt emailed, “The course was very flat, with the Raising the Roof 5K having a little less of the small inclines that the CDR Superhero course has. However, the weather was much better, being cooler and far less humid. I was all by myself (too far back from the top 3 men and in front of the next group). I was pleased to be only 12 seconds off of my PR. I broke my own age group record, even though I was unaware that I had the age group record in the first place.”

Peninsula Catholic cross country coach Susan Bender emailed about Curtis, “Isabella started running for me last year and I could tell right away that she had the determination to succeed. One day I told her to run up with the top pack and stay as close as she could each day. She quickly realized her ability and became consistently one of the top runners.” Curtis has improved dramatically in 2024 after running just 21:49 last year at the TCIS championships, and her 19:12 on the roads shows she’ll be one of the fastest high school runners on the Peninsula this fall.

Isabella Strumke’s father Todd emailed about her race, “The weather was so much better for Raising the Roof and I was pretty happy with Isabella’s performance considering she hasn’t trained for a few weeks. As the weather was so cool in the mornings all this week (following the race) we decided to take advantage of it and Isabella started easing back into training again. Next up is the Elizabeth River Run 10K [Sept.22] so hopefully she will be in good shape by then. Running club [GWDRC] and wrestling both start next week as well and I think after watching so many American women do great in the Olympics (two American women won gold medals in wrestling) she is especially motivated for both sports. Isabella also hadn’t trained since the Junior Olympics [national track championships] on August 1 so really she did the run as more of a fun run.”

Hopper emailed, “I certainly enjoyed the cooler weather! Mile splits were 4:59, 5:03, 5:06.“ Otstot was also brief, emailing, “Not much to say for this one. Weather was much nicer last weekend than the weekend before and my fitness was marginally better. In terms of my competitive race, it went about the same. Glad to get another solid effort in, and looking forward to continuing to progress into the fall.”

Murphy, one second off her PR, emailed, “I enjoy this course and have run on it often. Based on how I’ve been running I felt fairly confident that I could meet that time goal [the age group record]. I did have my own time goal in mind and I know it’s harder to PR in the summer, but I wanted to get sub 21 at least. I always go out fast and I decided to run fast and hold on as long as possible. I was one second away from my personal PR, so that was discouraging, but I don’t look at my watch while I race so I had no idea how I was racing until I saw the clock and knew it was going to be close.”

Rick Platt is president of Colonial Road Runners.

Emma Rogers, the winner of the Aug. 10 CDR SuperHero Dash 5K did the exact opposite, yet still won by more than a minute. Her less-than-ideal preparation included getting up in the middle of the night to watch the men’s Olympic Marathon from 2-4 a.m.

Rogers, 24, of Williamsburg, who will start her teaching career this month at Clara Byrd Baker Elementary, won in 18:01, followed by Emily Honeycutt, 33, of Newport News (19:07), Isabella Strumke, 10, of Toano (21:07), Tricia Murphy, 43, of Williamsburg (21:17), Marjorie Friedrichs, 57, of Williamsburg (21:58), Caroline Gartland, 16, of Williamsburg (22:53), Katherine Wease, 34, of Williamsburg (23:38) and Deelyn Robinson, 58, of Williamsburg (23:43).

Rogers emailed, “Due to the weather, I moved my long run to Friday so that I could do a ride on Sunday. I did a little over 15 miles. I was just doing the race for a hard workout effort. I knew beforehand that I wouldn’t feel amazing for it, but my goal was about 18 minutes. It didn’t help that I decided to watch the Olympic Marathon at 2 a.m. I probably got around 4-5 hours of sleep total, which was not a good idea.”

She also ran from her home, in the Mill Neck Road neighborhood above Lake Matoaka, as a warm up to the race site (about 2 1/2 miles), then ran back home after the race awards ceremony. The 5K was the 12th Colonial Road Runners Grand Prix race of the year.

The CDR race course is almost totally flat, with just a couple hills, one in the opening half mile, and the second in the final mile. The start and finish is at the Vineyards Clubhouse, and the main stretch, on Treasure Island Road, is completely shaded. There was only about a half mile total of sun in the neighborhood, but conditions were very challenging due to the weather. The morning low was in the upper 70s, with high humidity and a high dew point, and with the temp quickly exceeding 80 degrees.

For the men, the two CRR superstars, Roger Hopper and Adam Otstot, usually run in the mid-15s, but Saturday, Hopper, 33, of Chesapeake could only manage 16:01, and Otstot, 42, of Williamsburg 16:39. Then there was a 2 1/2 -minute gap to Jack Searle, 18, of Great Britain (19:08) and another minute to Jack Strumke, 14, of Toano (20:17), followed by Beckham Dollyhigh, 18, of Toano (20:35), Brian Fries, 36, of Yorktown (20:58) and CRR vice president David Anderson, 54, of Williamsburg (21:09).

On an age graded basis, as compiled by CRR statistician Jim Gullo, five runners bettered the national-class level of 80%, despite the sticky and hot conditions. Otstot led the way with an 82.49%, and was followed by Rogers (81.78%), Isabella Strumke (81.66%), Friedrichs (a PR 81.23%) and Hopper (80.74%).

Just missing the 80% standard was Marie Shay, 68, of Williamsburg at 78.68%, but who had the only age group record of the day. Her time of 26:03 bettered her own women’s 65-69 record of 26:29 from last year. Friedrichs (21:58) came close to the women’s 55-59 record of 21:32 by Laura Shannon, 55, of Williamsburg in 2018. Shannon was inducted into the Virginia Peninsula Road Racing Hall of Fame this past winter.

Also above the regional-class age graded level of 70% were Honeycutt (77.24%), Deelyn Robinson (76.13%), Ken Mitchell, 79, of Williamsburg (26:58, 75.19%), Murphy (72.50%), Anderson (71.35%) and James Bates, 68, of Hampton (24:05, 70.83%).

Bates was running his first local race in about 14 years, after retiring last October from his job as a civilian contractor with the U.S. Army in South Korea, then traveling extensively throughout Southeast Asia until mid-July. Before heading to Korea in 2010, and while living on the Peninsula, Bates was one of the fastest runners in Hampton Roads. In the early 2000s, he introduced age graded running to the area. Robinson ran her first CRR race of the year, after a foot injury incurred over the winter, and a later relapse.

Men’s winner Hopper emailed, “Heat and humidity were definitely a factor, maybe not too bad, but probably cost most of us a good 5 seconds per mile or so. Mile splits were 5:14, 5:10, 5:06 on my way to 16:01, a bit slower than the past few years (15:40, 15:26, 15:37), but about what I expected given the conditions and my current fitness. Averaged over 130 miles per week for the four weeks leading into the race, so probably a little fatigued from that as I build toward bigger things. I’m still doing back and hip rehab every day, still have issues here and there, but every day, and especially every week, is a little better. I’m looking forward to being back to my normal self this fall!”

Otstot also suffered the injury bug, spraining his ankle at the June 29 Night Owl 9K on the treacherous Freedom Park mountain bike trails. He emailed, “Still working to get some decent fitness back after some time off, so while the heat and humidity certainly didn’t help, I’m just trying to race myself back into shape.  Highlight of the morning for me was connecting with the running community, chatting with friends, and seeing an old friend Jim Bates for the first time in a while.”

Friedrichs, a VIMS professor, was the competitive highlight of the day, age grading a lifetime best, despite the oppressive weather conditions. She emailed, “I was excited about my 81.23% age grade, as I’ve only reached 80% a handful of times (all over the past two years that I’ve been running with the CRR), and never broken 81% before, so that’s a record for me. This summer I’ve been trying to add some speed sessions into my weekly routine of about 40-50 miles per week, and it seems to be paying off. I’m definitely excited to see what the cooler weather brings this fall!”

Women’s runner-up Honeycutt emailed, “I knew this wouldn’t be a PR attempt. It was quite hot and humid, and I was by myself from a little over a half mile into about the 2-mile mark where a male high school runner caught up to me. I went out well in 5:57, slowed to a 6:17 (with the heat/humidity, running alone, and a turnaround), then picked it up to a 6:11. I finished where I expected for women and placed much higher overall than expected [4th overall]. While it was not ideal racing temps, I felt really good at the finish which is a good sign for cooler weather races.”

Shay, the only record breaker texted, “I thought last year’s weather was worse than this year. I really like this course! I liked it 26 seconds more this year! But you know me, I always think I can do better. I have to get to that 80% [age grade]! I think it’s only happened once! Going to have to push a little harder to get there.”

One of the day’s highlights was the Trike Trek, where a dozen or so charity fundraisers raced tricycles for several hundred yards. Race director Nancy Wigley of CDR texted, “Top 3 Trike Trekkers were Steve Tetrault, David Byrnes and Steve Wigley [her husband, and the defending Trike Trek champion]. The Trike Trek has become the major fundraising element to the race. We raised over $54,000.”

Rick Platt is president of Colonial Road Runners.

She earned her fourth All-American honor, to go with two from cross country last December, and one from indoor track in March.

Isabella, now 10, broke state road records as a 9-year-old at 5K (19:37), 8K (32:17), 10K (40:37), and 10 miles (1:19:18), and was the CRR Runner of the Year (age graded champion) for 2023. She has continued to excel this year, with a remarkable 18:31 at April’s Run the DOG Street 5K, age grading at 93%, above the world-class level at 90%

She currently trails only Emily Honeycutt, 55-49, in the 2024 Colonial Road Runners Grand Prix women’s division. Each year she and her brother Jack take a break from road races during summer. Their last CRR race was the June 15 FURever Homes 8K at Jamestown High. Instead Isabella takes to the track and shorter distances.

On July 29, Isabella competed in the 3,000 meters at the AAU Junior Olympics meet in the 11-year-old division. The division is based on the year of birth (2013) vs. actual age, so the majority of girls she competed against had already turned 11. Isabella will be 11 in September. She placed fifth in 11:10.51, age grading 90.23%, and just missed her 3,000-meter PR of 11:10.23 from the AAU Indoor Nationals in Virginia Beach in March, where she placed second. The top eight in AAU events earn All-American status. Her father Todd emailed, “Isabella was ecstatic to once again have that honor bestowed on her (this was the fourth time she has earned the honor) just like her grandfather did for football when he was in high school.”

Her first All-American race came last December in Tallahassee, Florida at the AAU Cross Country Nationals, where she placed third at 3K in a time of 11:41.7 in a heavy rainstorm. The second was at the USATF Junior Olympics Cross Country Nationals in Louisville, Kentucky, later in December, where she placed seventh in 11:18.79. At the AAU Indoor Nationals track meet in Virginia Beach in March, she placed second in 11:10.23 (her PR), missing first by less than a second.

Todd emailed, “Out of all these races, one thing has become incredibly clear, there are some really fast and talented girls out there her age, especially in comparison to some of the other divisions. For example, while Isabella finished 5th in the 11-year-old girls race, she would have come in 4th in the 12-year-old girls race. This phenomenon has been very consistent in all the big races she has run in, and bodes well for all these girls in that they have fellow incredibly talented competitors to help make them better. Places 1-4 were as follows: 10:37.29, 10.51.40, 10:55.65, 11:00.03, then Isabella at 11:10.51. While we were hoping Isabella would be able to break 11:00 minutes and in fact a 93% (which she ran at Run the DOG) would have equaled a 10:50.53 time, the 10:37 first place time was never even a consideration. That said, it is becoming pretty clear that while Isabella is incredibly talented at running the 3k, her real strength (at least for now) seems to lie in the longer distances such as the 5K, 8K and 10K. We also didn’t have the greatest training block leading into this race as Isabella was away for a couple of weeks for summer camps (to include one wrestling camp in Pennsylvania).  Summer activities combined with the heat, which Isabella doesn’t generally run or train well in, will likely mean that we will forgo the summer Junior Olympics in the future and just take it easy in the hot months and focus on XC nationals in the fall.”

Aurora Scott of Portsmouth still holds the AAU Junior Olympic outdoor record for 11-year-old girls at 3,000 meters, a 10:22.97 from 2001. Scott also has the state 5K road record for girls 10-14, an 18:07 at age 12 in 2002, and the all-time CRR record for 14-and-under girls, an 18:11 at Queens Lake in 2003 at age 13.

Isabella also ran the 1,500 meters on Aug. 1, but a side stitch at the start, along with 86-degree heat, led to a 12th place finish (out of 78 girls) in 5:20.04, just her third 1,500 race (the others were 5:25 and 5:18). She had also done some mountain climbing in Blowing Rock and Grandfather Mountain, N.C, with her family before that 1,500 race.

Two other CRR runners who excelled over the past week were Aimee Gianoukos, 48, of Williamsburg in the Alphabet Soup 7 Hour Run in Williamsburg, and Roger Hopper, 33, of Chesapeake at the Tidewater Striders Scholarship 5K in Virginia Beach.

The 7 Hour Run was held on the Greensprings Trail loop, starting and finishing each loop next to the Jamestown High tennis courts. Outside of the field next to the JHS track, the course was completely shaded, and on an almost totally flat course and all soft surface. Runners completed as many 2.2-mile laps as possible between the 7 a.m. start and the 2 p.m. cutoff.

The overall winner was Ken Bell, 53, of Cary, N.C, who ran 42.07 miles. Next was a three-way tie at 39.85 miles among Gianoukos, the women’s winner, along with Ryan Nelligan, 29, of Richmond and Ethan Ford, 33, of Richmond. Kevin Klapproth, 20, of Carrollton and Alivia Sorah, 29, of Henrico were in the next group at 37.64 miles. Will Spencer, 25, of Swansboro, N.C, a friend of Gianoukos and Amber Lewis, 40, of Williamsburg were among six at 35.36 miles.

Kevin Grierson, 59, of Virginia Beach (formerly of Williamsburg) and Ruthie Cruz, 43, of Yorktown both celebrated their birthdays by completing 33.21 miles, along with Rob Vance, 59, of Richmond (also formerly of Williamsburg), Katie Kipers, 33, of Williamsburg and seven others. Other local runners who completed 50K (31 miles) were Caitlin Mauk, 20, of Williamsburg, Nichol Meneley, 53, of Williamsburg, and David Anderson, 54, of Williamsburg.

For Gianoukos, it was the longest race of her life, having previously done just 26.2-mile marathons, with a PR of 3:31:07. She did the 7 hour run “for fun”, with her longest training run just 13 miles. She emailed, “I was shocked to learn I was second overall, first place woman. I ran 31 miles without walking but I stopped every loop to drink/hydrate/fuel. I took Sunday off and ran 5 miles on Monday and felt great. I’m glad I tried something new.”

Race director Ellen Alexander of Happy Cat Events emailed, “I was impressed with Aimee’s energy and competitive spirit! Not only did she perform well, but she did it with a smile and even helped with race cleanup.” Alexander brags about pushing runners through their comfort zone in her races, so emailed jokingly, “I was disappointed in the weather, not miserable enough.” It was comfortably warm, but not hot, with relatively low humidity.

Hopper was third overall at the Tidewater Striders 5K Scholarship Run in Virginia Beach, just his second race since doing the Grandma’s Marathon mid-June (the other was a winning effort in Alexander’s Night Owl 9K at Freedom Park in late June). At the 5K, Wesley Bond, 21, of Virginia Beach won in 15:20, Jake Sutor, 29, of Chesapeake was second in 15:51, and Hopper third in 15:54.

Hopper texted “Great to see Megan Syrett and Deelyn Robinson out there Saturday with all their recent injury struggles. Megan ran 24:21 for fourth female Masters and Deelyn 24:43 for fifth female Masters.” Hopper, after many months of injury issues since last October, is now back to his usual high mileage training, with weekly mileages since Night Owl of 124, 120, 140 and 130 miles.

Rick Platt is president of Colonial Road Runners.

Starting in 2018, the final race name was changed to Joe-Zilla, in honor of longtime PTC president Joe Harney, whose birthday of July 10 coincides around the time of the 5 miler. The final PTC race Harney attended was the 2017 Trailzilla race, shortly before he died on July 20, 2017.

The Trailzilla series name is a takeoff on the Godzilla movie series, and the individual race awards and the three-race series awards are traditionally stones with dinosaur or other creative running themes painted on them. This year the PTC had a rock painting night at the home of race directors Steve and Maria Peters. The JoeZilla race was both a PTC Grand Prix race, and a Hampton Roads Super Grand Prix race. PTC webmaster Thea Ganoe, along with Pete Navin, were also key organizers for the series.

All Trailzilla races were on the mostly shaded and soft-surface trails of the Sandy Bottom Nature Park. It was warm, but not excessively hot for all three. The predicted morning rain for the Joe-Zilla 5 Miler did not start until after all had left the park. The previous Saturday, the race was postponed due to the Friday afternoon and evening deluge flooding many of the trails in the park.

Steve Peters, PTC president for the past five years, emailed, “We are happy to say that the 2024 Trailzilla Series was a success and we are thankful to our volunteers, the city of Hampton, and the Sandy Bottom Nature Park rangers for helping us ensure the 3-race series was completed in spite of a one-week postponement of the JoeZilla 5-Miler due to heavy rains [the date was changed from July 13 to July 20]. This was the first year we’ve used Trailzilla as our PTC Scholarship fundraiser [for graduating seniors, who are PTC members] and we look forward to improving on it next year. It is fitting that the culmination of the series is the Joe-Zilla 5-Miler, named in memory of the late Joe Harney, long-time PTC President who was a huge advocate of the PTC Scholarship fund which enables the PTC to help graduating seniors in a small way as they head off to college. Thanks particularly this year to Grove and Mary Calvert for their generous donation to the PTC Scholarship fund.”

The Joe-Zilla 5 Miler on July 20 came down to a three-man sprint for the men, and a runaway victory for the women, with the top two men both on the Warwick High cross country team. Benjamin Perry, 17, of Newport News outkicked Nate Cochran, 16, of Newport News by one second, 31:40 to 31:41, with Wilson Mason, 33, of Hollis, New Hampshire a step behind in 31:42. All three averaged 6:23 per mile for the measured 4.95-mile race, slightly below the official 5-mile distance.

In contrast, the women’s race was no contest as Svitlana Honcharova, 26, of Williamsburg won by almost seven minutes over Connie Glueck, 60, of Williamsburg, 33:56 to 40:45, with Stephanie Eitzen, 46, of Yorktown third (42:20).

The first race in the series was the 5K on the evening of June 4. At that race Cochran easily beat Perry, 17:22 to 18:00, with Kyle Peters, 15, of Carrollton third in 18:01. At the second series race, a 3.85 miler on the evening of June 18, Cochran won again in 22:22, with Soren Hines, 15, of Newport News second (23:20), Jim Highsmith, 41, of Newport News third (23:26) and Perry fourth (23:26). In track this past spring, Cochran had run fast times of 4:34 in the 1,600 meters and 9:56 in the 3,200 meters.

For the women, Honcharova was runner-up in the first two races. Ariana Logsdon, 16, of Newport News won the 5K (19:52), with Honcharova second (20:56) and Eitzen a distant third (25:07). At the second race, the 3.85 miler, Bethany Spector, 34, of Virginia Beach was first (27:06), Honcharova was second (28:19), Megan Syrett, 41, of Yorktown third (31:29) and Eitzen fourth (31:52).

Special awards (beer glasses) were given to the series winners, with runners having to complete all three races to be eligible. For the men, Cochran won the overall title over Perry, but Perry won the 15-19 age group. Other men’s series award winners were Braxton Lee of Quinton (14-and-under, with his 15th birthday just days after Joe-Zilla), Matthew Armenta of Hampton (35-39), Adam Henry of Newport News (40-44), Kyle Aulenbach of Yorktown (45-49), Aaron Candella of Yorktown (55-59), Tim Westfall of Norfolk (65-69), Jimmy Blount of Williamsburg (70-74), Ron Kellum of Hampton (75-and-over) and Bob Curtin of Hampton (race walk). A number of runners could have won a series age group award, but could not make the rescheduled July 20 race date.

For the women, with two seconds and one first, Honcharova easily won the overall title over Eitzen and Glueck. Age group Trailzilla award winners were Emily Blackburn of Yorktown (women 30-34), Maryanne Lee of Quinton (40-44), Eitzen (45-49), Susan Hagel of Norfolk (50-54), Glueck (60-64) and Deneen Venters of Newport News (race walk).

More than 3,000 miles away, and in a totally different type of running event was the USATF National Masters Track and Field Championships in Sacramento, Calif., with the temperatures exceeding 100 degrees (although a dry heat, with low humidity, and a low dew point). Rob Whitaker, 65, of Yorktown was the only distance runner from Hampton Roads who competed, and his highlight was being part of a U.S. and world record relay team at the 4 x 800-meter distance.

The two records were for the men’s 65-69 age group, and the category was the non-running club category. The team and splits were Tim Owen, 65, of Boston (2:33.9), Whitaker (2:37.7), Michael Lebold, 66 of San Diego (2:35.1) and David Westenberg, 66, of Lowell, Mass. (2:29.8). The team’s relay time was 10:16.67. The former non-club  American record was 10:27.85 and the former non-club world record was 10:19.89.

The selection process for the record-setting relay was from the results of the Indoor USATF Masters Championships in March, where Whitaker was fifth in the 800 meters. At that race, Owen, Lebold and Westenberg were part of a relay team that broke the U.S. and world records for the indoor 4 x 800-meter relay for the 65-69 age group. Owen organized the outdoor record-breaking team, recruiting Whitaker to join the group, when one member from the indoor team could not make the outdoor championships. Whitaker had run a 2:35.66 indoors. The relay was essentially a time trial when one other team dropped out late. Whitaker emailed, “Not bragging, but no one was likely to put up a team that would’ve competed against us.” This is definitely the high point of my running career. Congratulations to my teammates who ran so well in 102 degree heat.” The humidity during the relay was 20% and the dewpoint around 50.

After the relay, Whitaker competed in several individual events, placing fifth in the 800 meters (2:37.08 with the temperature 105 degrees) and also fifth in the 1,500 meters (5:27.92). The nationals was his first outdoor meet of the season. Whitaker emailed, “I’ve continued to have injury problems preventing me from competing and training properly.”

Williamsburg’s Steve Chantry was scheduled to have also competed at the Nationals, but the worldwide computer problems canceled his Friday flight, among thousands of other cancellations.

Rick Platt is president of Colonial Road Runners.

Elder emailed, “This is the best 8K course on the Virginia Peninsula! It is an incredible privilege to run or walk on the 8K or 5K course in the place and day America won independence. We want families to start their 4th of July celebration by running or walking together on this fantastic venue.”

There were 259 finishers in the featured 8K, along with more in the 5K fun run. The top three overall men were Matthew DeVillers, 35, of Mystic, Conn. (27:25.3), followed by Derek Ferreira, 21, of Tolland, Conn. (29:47.7) and Christian Wiscovitch, 34, of Chesapeake (31:26.6).

The top three women were all in the top nine overall, including women’s winner Emma Rogers, 24, of Williamsburg, who was the third runner across the finish line. Rogers was timed in 30:00.9, and was followed by Katherine Irgens, 34, of Mystic, Conn. (31:48.7) and Liz Starbuck, 30, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire (33:01.2).

For women’s runner up Irgens, the 8K was a true homecoming, as she was a student at York High. She texted, “We came down to Yorktown to run the roads I enjoyed in high school while visiting family. We would definitely come back to do the race again and always enjoy traveling for races. Definitely more challenging now with our new baby, Killian, but I hope that he will catch the running bug too!”

Although she and husband Matthew DeVillers were registered as Mystic, Conn., they don’t live there anymore. Irgens texted, “We signed up for the race and did it in transit to my new duty station in D.C. I was originally a submarine officer and laterally transferred to the engineering duty officer community. I will be working at the Navy yard at a submarine program office. I ran for two years in high school, actually for York High School. The race course was a pretty popular loop I remember running in high school. I was not a very good runner, middle of the pack. I went to Purdue and studied aerospace engineering and was on the crew team. I ran mostly for cross training and started getting more serious about it after college. Since then, I have been training mostly for the marathon distance and have also run for the all-Navy sports team several times. I even had the opportunity to run for the U.S. marathon team at the military world games in Wuhan, China in October 2019. My PRs in the half and full marathon are 1:17 and 2:46. My ultimate goal is to qualify for the Olympic trials.”

Matthew DeVillers ran for the Naval Academy, and is friends with Bethany and Jordan Spector, now from Virginia Beach, and both also Navy grads, and frequent competitors at Colonial Road Runners races.

Women’s winner Rogers, who just completed her graduate studies at William & Mary’s School of Education, and will start her teaching career next month at Clara Byrd Baker Elementary in Williamsburg, is currently in third place for the 2024 CRR Grand Prix, with three wins and one second place, good for 39 points (trailing just Emily Honeycutt and Isabella Strumke, but with fewer races). Rogers won the Colonial Half Marathon, the Kingswood Klam 5K and the FURever 8K, and was second at the DOG Street 5K. At the FURever 8K, held at Jamestown High, her time was 29:59, one second faster than her July 4 time. Rogers emailed, “I was surprised with how similar the times were. I did a workout for the Yorktown 8K, so it’s nice to know I can run that time in different ways. I don’t have any race plans [for the summer], but will probably jump into some 5Ks.” The CRR will take their summer break for July, and will resume Grand Prix racing on Aug. 10 (with the CDR 5K at The Vineyards at Jockeys Neck, and the Aug. 17 Raising the Roof 5K at the Landfall at Jamestown course).

It was also a high school homecoming for the third-place women’s finisher Elizabeth (Liz) Starbuck, a Lafayette High grad, who, like Irgens, has also moved since entering the July 4 race. She emailed, “When I signed up for the race I was living in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, but now I’m in Boston. I still work for Kiewit, a large construction company in North America. We try to get back to Virginia twice a year, this Fourth of July we were home visiting my step dad and grandparents. I really haven’t stopped running since I was 15 [at Lafayette], besides a couple of injury-forced breaks. Recently I started running for Northwodos Athletics and am being coached by Ben True [one of America’s best distance runners]. I’ve found an awesome running community in Portsmouth, NH and Boston.”

“This year I ran the Boston Marathon and it was a tough one. Immediately after crossing the finish line I swore off running any other marathons, but a couple weeks later I signed up for CIM [California International Marathon]. I figured since CIM isn’t till December that will give me enough time to mentally and physically recover. This summer I’m just going to run shorter races, a Tracksmith track 5K in Boston and then Beach to Beacon [Maine]. There’s never a shortage of races in the Northeast, but it’s always fun to run a race in your hometown! The Yorktown 8K was one of the prettiest courses I’ve ever run on! Almost made the humidity bearable! I ran it as a workout trying to make it a progression with a hard effort for the last 2K but the weather and travel got the best of me and I didn’t quite hit the mark, the effort was certainly there though. Emma and I cooled down, so now I’ll hopefully have a buddy to run with when I visit Williamsburg next time.”

It was a family affair for two Williamsburg runners, Connie Glueck, 60, and Doyle Gage, 68. Glueck won the women’s 60-64 age group by more than four minutes with a time of 41:36, but was thrilled to have her sister Tanna Torcaso, 70, of Jacksonville, N.C. also competing in the 8K. Glueck emailed, “My sister Tanna wanted to do a race and they didn’t have any in Jacksonville on July 4th. She got an email from Colonial Sports about the race and decided to fly up. Once she told me she was coming up to do it I decided to join her. That was her first 8K.  She only started running last year at age 69.”

For Gage, he had the honor of running with his twin brother David, 68, of Tucson, Ariz., and they placed first (Doyle, 44:10) and second (David, 53:23) for the men’s 65-69 age group. David’s son Robert just moved to West Virginia, so David and his wife visited them, then came to Williamsburg to see his twin Doyle, and his wife Debra.

Doyle emailed, “We grew up in California and are very close in all our activities, including running. We ran track (1 and 2 mile) and cross country in high school and were always close with our times. After high school, I went to the Air Force Academy and David went to the University of Arizona, met his wife there and stayed in Arizona. I met my wife Debra while in the Air Force, she was a runner too.” They later raced while in South Dakota, then Guam and Riverside, Calif., before moving to Williamsburg from Europe in 2011. This year they are focusing on half marathons around the country, and in Stockholm, Sweden.

Rick Platt is president of Colonial Road Runners.

According to a recent National Collegiate Athletic Association report, the university tops the list in both perfect multiyear academic progress rates and the NCAA public recognition awards.

Implemented in 2003, the APR calculates the academic progress through a team-based metric based on the academic eligibility and retention of student-athletes for each academic term.

“William & Mary student-athletes shine in competition and in the classroom,” William & Mary President Katherine A. Rowe said in an email. “The Academic Progress Report is only the latest example of their hard-earned national recognition. I am incredibly proud that William & Mary will continue to prepare well-rounded individuals to meet the challenges of the 21st century.”

In total, William & Mary garnered 12 public recognition awards, which were the most in the Coastal Athletic Association, the state of Virginia and among all Division 1 public universities, according to a university announcement. The university ranked ninth overall nationally for awards.

“These ranks are a testament to the hard work of our student-athletes and we couldn’t be prouder,” said Brian Mann, W&M’s athletic director. “I could go on at length about our department-wide honors as well as the different individual honors our student-athletes have received.”

Mann cited the recognition of Tara Kerr of the lacrosse team and Alek Kuzmenchuk of men’s gymnastics, who were named Fulbright Scholars, and Lanni Brown of women’s basketball who was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

“I know how much time and effort our student-athletes dedicate to their studies, as well as the countless hours consumed by their individual sports, so it is extremely gratifying to see this tremendous recognition of what they have done so consistently and so well in the classroom,” Mann added.

Public recognition awards go to teams earning APR in the top 10% of all squads in their respective sports. The newly announced winning teams include: women’s basketball, women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s gymnastics, lacrosse, women’s soccer, men’s and women’s swimming, women’s tennis and volleyball.

Each of the programs produced perfect 1,000 multiyear APR scores. While being the top public school in the category, it also ranked No. 8 nationally among all Division 1 schools, also in the CAA and in Virginia.

W&M’s combined APR for 2022-23, the latest available data, was 994.61 for its 21 athletic teams (indoor and outdoor track programs are combined, while its multiyear APR from 2019-20 to 2022-23 was 993.77. The national average multiyear points were 984.

Additionally, Mann said W&M student-athletes had a cumulative grade-point average of 3.4 during the 2024 spring semester. All the team programs posted a GPA of 3.0 or better. Also, 232 of women and men received the W&M Provost Award, which recognizes students who maintain a GPA over 3.5.

For the 18th time in the last 19 years, W&M lead all Division 1 public institutions with an 88% federal graduation rate. Also, the university ranked 10th overall among all Division 1 schools and had the highest graduation rate for student-athletes in the state.

Wilford Kale, kalehouse@aol.com

Then there are the Happy Cat Events races directed by Ellen Alexander. Her purpose is to get road racers out of their comfort zone, to have races at a variety of longer distances utilizing beautiful local parks such as the York River State Park and Freedom Park, with very challenging singletrack or main trails with plenty of roots, twists, turns, uphills and downhills. Her easier courses (the 24-hour and 7-hour runs) use the Greensprings Trail.

Once a year, the two groups merge with the fifth annual Night Owl 9K run, an evening Happy Cats Event race at Freedom Park that is part of the CRR Grand Prix series. This year, more of the regular CRR road racers have tested themselves at Alexander’s races, and they have enjoyed the new experiences, in particular the Arbor Day 15K at the end of April, and the Taskinas Creek Half Marathon at the beginning of June, both on the difficult and very challenging trails of York River State Park.

The Night Owl race offers a variety of challenging surfaces, starting and finishing in the large meadow by the park’s Interpretive Center, using the asphalt backbone trail before encountering first wide trails, then 1 ½ miles of the most challenging singletrack trails B and A. Back on the wide trails, then the asphalt backbone trail, the challenges don’t end, as there is a very long uphill stretch on the asphalt, going to Jolly Pond Road, then on the return a very steep shorter hill, before a flat final half mile to the finish.

The June 29 race started at 6 p.m., so there was time for all to finish with plenty of daylight left to enjoy the post-race party and awards ceremony, with pizza and beer. Plagued by evening storms in recent years, this year’s race moved from late July to late June, and the weather cooperated without any rain. However, the final challenge for the runners was the temperature, about 91 degrees at the start, with a heat index of around 100. There were 167 entrants, and 147 finishers.

The race name comes from the race beneficiary, Nature’s Nanny Wildlife Rehabilitation, which brings a selection of owls for the race entrants to observe, learn about, and interact with inside the Interpretive Center.

Despite the tough course conditions, and the summer heat, two men’s and six women’s age group records were broken. The top three overall for the men were Roger Hopper, 33, of Chesapeake (32:52), Adam Otstot, 42, of Williamsburg (33:59) and Erik Stauderman, 24, of Williamsburg (35:25). Otstot broke the men’s 40-44 race record by more than three minutes, while Hopper owns the race overall record at 31:55 from his 2022 win.

For the women, the top three all broke age group records. Winner Randi Marie Dyrkolbotn, 43, of Mandal, Norway won in 42:01 to break the women’s 40-44 record by more than seven minutes. Runnerup Svitlana Honcharova, 26, of Williamsburg (45:03) broke the 25-29 record by 37 seconds, and Marjorie Friedrichs, 57, of Williamsburg ran 45:34 to break Deelyn Robinson’s previous 55-59 record, also by 37 seconds.

Dyrkolbotn was in Virginia to visit her sister, who works for NATO in Norfolk. The typical high temperatures in Norway during the summer are in the 60s, quite the contrast to Saturday’s 91 degrees. The women’s race record is 38:39 by Bethany Spector, 32, of Virginia Beach in 2021.

Also breaking race age group records were Jim Duffy, 72, of Poquoson (men 70-74, 52:43), Connie Glueck, 60, of Williamsburg (women 60-64, 53:37), Carol Hansen-Vessa, 70, of Williamsburg (women 70-74, 1:06:47), and Tracy Freeman, 75, of Williamsburg (women 75-and-over, 1:52:28).

Other leading men were Jason Bridges, 40, of Williamsburg (37:31), Lauritz Dyrkolbotn, 15, of Mandal, Norway (37:45), Kalle Jahn, 32, of Williamsburg (39:26), Timothy Suhr, 53, of Williamsburg (39:50), Jason Wahr, 40, of Virginia Beach (40:00) and Joe Calkins, 53, of Lanexa (40:35). Other leading women were Caitlyn Sylvester, 25, of Virginia Beach (46:19), Connie Cassidy, 42, of Williamsburg (48:52), Katherine Wease, 34, of Williamsburg (49:14) and Jessica Anderson, 42, of Williamsburg (51:36).

On an age-graded basis, as compiled by CRR statistician Jim Gullo, four runners bettered the national-class standard of 80%, led by Otstot (81.89%), Pete Gibson, 68, of Murfreesboro, NC (43:15, 81.00%), Hopper (80.59%) and Friedrichs (80.26%). Above 75% were Suhr (76.52%), Calkins (75.11%) and Randi Marie Dyrkolbotn (75.01%). Five more were above the regional-class level of 70%, Stauderman (74.54%), J.P. Murphy, 60, of Virginia Beach (44:12, 73.41%), Bridges (73.03%), Lauritz Dyrkolbotn (72.25%) and Glueck (70.80%).

Randi Marie Dyrkolbotn emailed, “It was an amazing race, but the temperature was a lot higher than what we are used to in Norway (64 degrees in the summer) and I felt like I was being cooked already after 1km. The trail part was challenging, especially since we don’t run that much on trails, and in the forest. I had to slow down quite a bit for the sharp corners on the trail, and couldn’t get into a good flow there, but it was still really fun. We were so tired when we got off the trail that it was difficult to run as fast as we wanted to on the road.” She has a marathon best of 2:59:29, while her 15-year-old son has run 16:17 (5K), 33:48 (10K) and 1:14:48 (half marathon).

Stauderman emailed, “I ran the Snowy Owl 10 miler in January which was hosted by Ellen and I absolutely loved it. Even though I’m not a big trail runner I love the events she puts on and plan on continuing running in her events. Adam and I went for a test run on Thursday to get a sense of the course and what was coming with all the turns so we didn’t get lost. I enjoyed the change from paved to dirt to straight single trail. I thought it brought out the best in a runner, most versatile and adapting to change throughout the course.”

Stauderman has moved past Jonathan Grimm into third place in the 2024 CRR Grand Prix, behind Otstot and Hopper. “For me, I’m not going to lie, I love coming in the top three, but being an athlete and competing in different sports my whole life [mainly golf for which he competed in college], my goal is to win. I feel like I’m getting faster and adapting to this new sport and I’m enjoying every aspect of it, and will be able to compete with Roger and Adam in the near future. I really want to get my 5K time under 16 minutes in August and by next year competing for the win at DOG Street which would be closer to 15 minutes. I plan on trying to run as many Grand Prix races as I can by the end of the year while also pursuing my passion of training for the Chicago and Boston marathons this upcoming year!”

Calkins emailed, “I love Happy Cat races. Always unique, and difficult. This was my fourth time doing the Night Owl, and I got a PR by 30 seconds from my last run in 2022. I was expecting to be slower due to the heat and being 2 years older, but started fast and just hung on. Now I have another Happy Cat race shirt to add to my wardrobe… which is mostly Happy Cat shirts.”

Friedrichs emailed, “This was only my second trail race, with the first being last year’s Night Owl, and I must say I enjoy them! The hills are a challenge I always enjoy, and the shade in the woods and the volunteers at the water stops were certainly much appreciated. After overcoming several injuries last year I’m finally feeling like I can put my all into running, and have been thrilled to be able to break 80% [age graded] during my last two CRR races. After my higher mileage preparing for the London marathon this spring, I’ve been training more for shorter 5K/10K races this summer and am hoping to be able to PR once the temperatures are a bit cooler this fall. Or at least get another 80+% age graded time!”

Rick Platt is president of Colonial Road Runners.

Although the temperatures weren’t as bad in Southeastern Virginia as they were with record-setting highs up and down the East coast, the first really hot heat wave of summer made for uncomfortable racing. Both races were part of history. The Timberneck race was a benefit for the preservation and restoration of the Timberneck House (built in 1793) by the Fairfield Foundation, responsible for other historic Virginia sites, including the nearby Rosewell. The second annual race was a Peninsula Track Club Grand Prix event, a Hampton Roads Super Grand Prix event, and this year’s test of the “Best of 757,” an annual race selected among the PTC, Colonial Road Runners and Tidewater Striders.

Last year’s “Best of 757” race was the CRR’s Weighted Angels 5K on the USATF-certified Landfall at Jamestown course. The Machicomoco State Park, on the York River, is the second newest state park in Virginia. This year’s 5K course was also recently USATF certified, by CRR vice president Dave Anderson.

The Chesty Puller Twin Bridge race was in honor of the most-decorated Marine in American history, Louis Burwell “Chesty” Puller (1898-1971), who started serving our country in 1918,  retired in 1955 as a Lieutenant General, and was born in West Point and died in Hampton, while buried in the Christ Church Cemetery. He was a distant cousin of U.S. Army General George S. Patton. Puller was noted for going the extra distance, so the West Point race is both a 10K, but also an 11K for “going the extra distance” for those who choose to extend the race an extra 10%.

The top three men overall at Machicomoco were Jonathan Torres, 34, of Newport News (18:07), Timothy Suhr, 53, of Williamsburg (18:47) and Toby Worm, 51, of Smithfield (19:10). The top three Masters (40-and-over men) were Kelvin Anderson, 63, of Newport News (20:05), David Anderson, 54, of Williamsburg (21:16), and William Huff, 53, of Williamsburg (22:00). Also making the top 10 overall were Brian Fries, 36, of Yorktown (21:07) and Braxton Lee, 14, of Quinton (21:49).

Finishing fifth overall, and first for the women was Svitlana Honcharova, 26, of Williamsburg (20:51), followed by Ann Strait, 64, of Irvington (24:17) and Julie Hicks, 48, of Virginia Beach (25:17). The fastest Masters women were Connie Glueck, 60, of Williamsburg (25:34), Christine Schaffner, 61, of Yorktown (28:24), and Susan Hagel, 51, of Norfolk (29:14).

Honcharova broke her own women’s Timberneck course record, improving from 21:34 last year to her 20:51 last Saturday. The men’s course record remains 16:55 by Tidewater Striders president Thomas Hicks, 51, of Virginia Beach, the 2023 winner.

Deneen Venters, 60, of Newport News (38:15) and Eric Dawnkaski, 58, of Williamsburg (40:51) were the race walk winners, a division emphasized for this race (awards going five deep) by race director Rick Webb of Yorktown, a board member of the PTC, and also the race walking chairman for the PTC.

As compiled by Dale Abrahamson for the PTC, the age graded runners above 70% were Kelvin Anderson (81.14%), Strait (80.08%), Suhr (79.68%), Worm (76.83%), Glueck (72.34%), Abrahamson, 75, of Yorktown (25:57, 72.23%), Torres (71.69%), David Anderson (70.96%), Jim Duffy, 72, of Poquoson (25:14, 70.90%) and Honcharova (70.66%).

Both women’s winner Honcharova and men’s runnerup Suhr had similar things to say about the race and the heat. Via text message from her Facebook post, Honcharova wrote “This morning I ran Timberneck 5K at Machicomoco State Park. I placed 1st overall for women and I was overall 5th [including the men]. Also I set a record and I won a raffle dozen donuts. The weather was so hot and hot for a race today but I finished strong.”

Suhr emailed, “Timberneck was really really hot and really in the wide open. Zero shade! Tough 5K with all the heat and direct sun but it really wasn’t terrible because there was a slight breeze and only for about the last mile was the struggle. Didn’t even know that this young state park was there, but it is very pretty. There are some good views of the [York] river. And it seems that the roadway was designed for a 5K because it was a perfect 5K going around the loop road of the state park. Great race, great people, they had amazing door prizes and there were so many that almost everyone got one.”

Third-place Worm emailed, “I enjoy the Timberneck 5K. The state park has great facilities and a mostly flat road loop that makes a 5K easy to set up and run. It’s a great course if you’re working on a tan! Not much shade, and we happened to have an 80+ morning for the race. Last year was much cooler, but hey, the weather is unpredictable. It’s a part of racing. My race strategy was to go out slower and enjoy the course. That didn’t last long though. We had a nice headwind for the first mile and that seemed to keep me running cool and fast. I passed a few folks and was closing in on Suhr when we made a turn and lost the wind. The heat hit me like a ton of bricks and I struggled a bit for miles 2 and 3. Still, finishing 3rd to Tim and Jonathan is great!”

The Chesty Puller race is more of a participatory race for those wanting to honor the most-decorated soldier, and the majority of 10K entrants continued on to make an 11K. For the men in the 11K (153 finishers), the winner was Alec Daniel, 21, of Gloucester (43:41), followed by Jack Strumke, 14, of Toano (47:44). For the women the top two were Isabella Strumke, 10, of Toano (48:15) and Julia Henby, 30, of Providence Forge (48:37).

Jack and Isabella’s father Todd, emailed, “This was our first time doing this race so it was a little confusing regarding the 10K vs. 11K races. To make it even more confusing, as Jack approached the finish line I was urging him to finish strong but thankfully he was smart enough to know that he actually had to pass the finish line and then do one more 1K lap around the neighborhood before being finished. In doing the research on this race before I signed Jack and Isabella up, I learned that the majority of runners do the 11k. This actually makes perfect sense and is incredibly appropriate. The Marine Corps is huge on teaching young recruits (Marines in boot camp) about the incredible history of the Marine Corps and the first Marine they learn about is Chesty Puller, the most decorated and famous Marine of all.”

“Anytime you are doing anything in the Marine Corps such as pull-ups or sit-ups, another Marine will inevitably yell out as a Marine thinks they are reaching their physical limits…”One More For Chesty Puller!!” …and somehow the Marine will find the toughness to do just one more. As you may remember, this is essentially why I started my kids running in the first place…so that when they think they have reached their physical or mental limits they will know that they are not even close and have a lot more left to give…one more for Chesty Puller. Apparently a lot of folks who ran in this event know about Chesty Puller because the 10K had 63 runners while 153 ran one more for Chesty Puller (11K).”

It was already in the upper 70s at the 7:30 a.m. race start, and reached 79 during the race. The race is tough because runners cross over two bridges to the opposite side and quickly turn back, essentially four substantial bridges and hills. Chesty Puller would be proud of the toughness of the course. And of course, he would do the extra 10%.

Rick Platt is president of Colonial Road Runners.

The FURever Homes 8K, and accompanying 5K and one mile pet run, had a nice turnout at Jamestown High for the three races with 409 total finishers; 303 finishers combined in the 8K (the Grand Prix race, with awards in all age groups from 14-and-under to 75-and-over) and the 5K (less competitive with awards to the top five overall men and women), along with 106 finishers in the one mile, a fun run and a pet run.

Many more virtual runners entered to support the cause, the Heritage Humane Society. And a large Vendor Village, with a dozen or more booths of animal-related organizations kept runners and spectators entertained all morning long. The three race directors were Jennifer Lafountain, the marketing and community engagement manager of the Heritage Humane Society, Kimberly Laska, the executive director since 2012 of HHS, and Dave Berger of the nearby Spoke & Art Provisions Co., a CRR board member, and the original FURever race director, which started in 2020. The original Greensprings race, on the same 8K course, was the Greensprings Miles for Smiles 8K, from 2017 to 2019.

At the Run for Mental Strength 6K on the challenging and hilly Warhill Nature Trail, CRR Grand Prix leader Adam Otstot won in 20:04, with Hopper second in 20:42, and Stauderman third in 20:50. At the FURever 8K, the top three men were nine-time CRR Grand Prix champion Hopper, 33, of Chesapeake (27:01), Stauderman, 24, of Williamsburg (28:25) and Wilson Mason, 33, of Hollis, N.H. (30:22). The course record is 25:28 by Evan Leach, 23, of Richmond in 2023, with Hopper second last year in 25:42.

For the women, Emma Rogers, 24, of Williamsburg set a course record of 29:59, breaking the previous mark of 31:41 by Emily Honeycutt in 2023. Honeycutt, 33, of Newport News placed second this year, in 32:55, and Isabella Strumke, 10, of Toano was third in 33:55. Both Rogers (20-24) and Strumke (14-and-under) also broke age group records.

Others in the men’s top 10 were Christopher Minty, 36, of Williamsburg (30:43), Timothy Suhr, 53, of Williamsburg (31:31), Chris Geraghty, 39, of Yorktown (31:59), Jack Strumke, 14, of Toano (32:24), Pete Gibson, 68, of Murfreesboro, N.C. (33:17), Kyle Aulenbach, 47, of Yorktown (34:04), Steven Short, 42, of Hampton (34:05) and David Anderson, 54, of Williamsburg (34:09). Minty broke the race 35-39 age group record by 35 seconds. The other men’s age group record was by Dale Abrahamson, 75, of Yorktown (43:05) for the men’s 75-79 category. Gibson missed his own 65-69 record by 13 seconds.

For the women, the remainder of the top 10 were Svitlana Honcharova, 26, of Williamsburg (34:32), Tricia Murphy, 43, of Williamsburg (35:25), Aimee Gianoukos, 48, of Williamsburg (36:21), Karen Grabowski, 40, of Toano (36:25), Leslie Harrison, 60, of Rotonda West, Fla. (39:33), Katherine Wease, 34, of Williamsburg (40:24), and Jessica Anderson, 42, of Williamsburg (40:52). Honcharova broke Honeycutt’s 25-29 race record by 14 seconds, Murphy broke Megan Schulze’s 40-44 record by seven seconds, and Carol Hansen-Vessa of Williamsburg celebrated her 70th birthday (from six days earlier) by breaking Patricia Travis’s 70-74 record (was 50:28, now 49:22).

On an age-graded basis, as compiled by Travis, two runners bettered the national-class level of 80%, Gibson (83.55%) and Isabella Strumke (83.26%). Four more were above 75%–women’s winner Rogers (79.04%), men’s winner Hopper (77.85%), along with Suhr (76.99%) and Leslie Harrison (76.11%). Stauderman (73.72%), Honeycutt (72.43%), Gianoukos (72.00%), Connie Glueck, 60, of Williamsburg (41:54, 71.85%), David Anderson (71.66%), Orlando Perez, 62, of Newport News (37:03, 70.91%), Murphy (70.68%) and Abrahamson (70.42%) were above the regional class level of 70%.

Stauderman, the sales and service consultant for William & Mary Athletics emailed, “I enjoyed the course and how it mixed in all three of the different running trails in the Greensprings area [the crushed stone Greensprings Trail, and the asphalt Powhatan Creek Trail and Virginia Capital Trail]. I had the thought of going out with Roger because I would never know if I could maintain that faster pace if I didn’t try. Little did I know, it would not work out well. I stayed with him for the first 1.3 miles, but once we got onto the Capital Trail in the sun, I knew I had to back off because I was starting to hurt. My mile splits started strong and then slowly diminished. Once I got to mile 3, I was just trying to get to the finish line because I was not feeling good with the hard start and the heat. My 8K PR time is 28:10 at the Yorktown Freedom Run 8K a few weeks ago and I think if I went out at my pace I would’ve beaten that time, but I decided to go try and win because if you don’t try, you’ll never know!”

Women’s winner Rogers emailed, “I loved running through the Greensprings trails in the shade. That was super nice given the heat. I did not know the course record, so that was a happy surprise. I was satisfied with my time, though it wasn’t my greatest race ever.”

Honeycutt emailed, “Last year I knew the record was attainable, and this year I knew Emma would have an easy time getting it. I also knew this was not a PR course with the trail sections. With the heat and humidity, I went with more of a tempo pace, going out with 2 miles that were somewhere in the 6:20s, slowing to somewhere in the 6:50s for the next 2 miles, and picking it up at the end to finish with a 6:02 last mile.”

Murphy emailed, “This is one of my favorite places to run in town. I love the combination of trails and the flat paved areas. It was hot for me and I definitely think that made a difference in my race. My mile splits were: 6:38, 6:56, 7:25, 7:31, 7:24. I was running alone for most of the race as I was in an empty gap. That made it hard to keep my pace, but it was hot and I didn’t have anything else to give.”

Leslie Harrison of Florida was a familiar face, but with a different name. She was a national class triathlete and Olympic Trials Marathon qualifier as Leslie Fedon from Virginia Beach, and was a regular for decades at all the major road races in the Hampton Roads area (Shamrock, Hampton Coliseum, Colonial Half Marathon, etc.). Her marathon PR and Olympic Trials qualifier of 2:41:47 came at the 1995 Shamrock Marathon, where she placed second overall. She was also ninth female at the 1989 Hawaii Ironman World Championship Triathlon in 9:49. Her 8K PR of 27:40 came at Shamrock 1996. Harrison texted, “I loved the [FURever] course and the trails in the park system. I was looking for a distance between 5-10 miles. We visit Norfolk, Virginia Beach several times a year. I love running in Williamsburg and looking for races there.” She retired from the Virginia Beach public schools in 2017, where she coached cross country and track at Cox High from 1997-2016.

Although the 5K was less competitive than the Grand Prix 8K, one exceptional time was recorded. Elliot Bruhl, 17, a Jamestown High junior cross country runner, ran a 17:15 to break the previous 5K course record of 17:32 by Jacob Warner, 21, of Williamsburg, a W&M student, in 2020. He age graded a regional-class 75.08%. The women’s winner of the 5K, Michelle Ballin, 41, of Williamsburg ran a 21:49 and age graded 69.78%.

Rick Platt is president of Colonial Road Runners.