BOTETOURT – There was no sunshine to warm the nearly 800 runners who competed in Saturday’s The Bank of Fincastle 5K & 10K Fall Run—but there wasn’t any rain either.
It was cool, though, and that combined with the threatening skies kept some runners at home. Still, the streets of Fincastle were filled with pattering shoes on the asphalt and huffing and puffing from runners who were as young as 2 to one runner who is over 75 years old.
Andrew Parkins of Salem turned in the best time of the day in the 5K. He won the Men’s 5K in 17 minutes, 21.8 seconds. It was the first time he’s won the Fincastle race.
Kevin O’Connor of Roanoke was second in 17:58.6, and Robert Johnroe of Kissimmee, Fla. took third in 18:28.8
Britta Grim of Buchanan won her first Women’s 5K. The James River High School junior crossed the finish line in 21:14.7, more than a minute ahead of second place April Pickens of Eagle Rock who finished in 22:16.6. Darby McPhail of Roanoke was third in 22:55.5.
Steven Crowder of Fincastle won the Men’s 10K again. After finishing as runner up last year, Crowder ran the 10K in 35 minutes, 39.1 seconds. That was 2.5 minutes faster than he ran a year ago. Billy Pearlman of Roanoke was second in 40:20.1 and Kevin Painchaud of Bedford was third in 40:50.4.
Megan Hall of Roanoke won the Women’s 10K in 44:26.0, while Lauren Brown of Roanoke finished as runner-up in 45:00.1. Lisa Turney of Daleville, who won the two previous races, was third in 45:42.0.
The team competitions were heavily contested again.
Cloverdale Pacers No. 1 won the popular Elementary Team Division again. Teams of eight students from Botetourt’s elementary schools combine their best six times to determine the team champion.
The top six Pacers finished in a combined one hour, 44 minutes, 35.1 seconds; almost four minutes ahead of second place Greenfield Gold. Troutville No. 1 was third, but only by 34 seconds.
Cloverdale Pacers No. 1 included Cooper Johnson, Christian Orange, Sidney Keyes, Jacob Dewease, Alexander Keyes, Tyler Hodnett, Makenzie Collins and Benjamin Ford.
Greenfield Gold, which combined for a time of 1:49:20.4, included Luke Harman, Jake Duvall, Mary Hannah Jackson, Cameron Hall, William Floyd, Tre Miller, Joshua Grimshaw and Maxwell Klimczak.
Troutville No. 1 had a combined time of 1:51:15.7 and included Lee Bowman, Matthew Whitely, Cody Cogdill, Emily D’Arpa, Brooklyn Shelton, Maranda Switzer, Jackson Reynolds and Brigid Hickey.
Read Mountain Middle School Running to Repeat team did just that—repeated as Middle School Team champion. The county’s two middle schools send teams of six runners and the top four times are combined for an overall time.
RMMS Running to Repeat had a combined time of 1:32:30.2. Central Academy No. 4 took second place in 1:36:47.0 and Read Mountain Middle School On Your Heels was third in 1:45:46.4.
Members of the winning Running to Repeat team included Sam Ring, Joe Mikalauskas, Ethan D’Arpa, Jillian Hunsberger, Claire Gross and Sarah Sizer.
CAMS No. 4 team members are Chase Haynes, Anne Clare Grumbine, Samuel Baker, Caleb Sink, Austin Jennings and Julie Workowski.
RMMS On Your Heels team members are Nicholas Mikalauskas, Mitch Stewart, Mitch Reavis, Joseph Sutliff and Austin Wheeling.
Eight Seconds was first in the Open Team competition where six runners combine the best times from their top four runners. Eight Seconds had a combined time of 1:13:17.2.
Team members included three runners from a Florida high school who came to the race with their coach, Robert Pauley, a former Botetourt resident and regular in the Fall Run.
Eight Seconds team members included the first and third place finishers in the Men’s 5K, Andrew Parkins and Robert Johnroe. Other team members are Chad Hutchins of Norfolk, Andrew Pauley of Troutville, Luis Alvarado of Kissimee, Fla. and Moises Bacco of Kissimmee, Fla.
Central Academy Middle School Teachers were second in the Open Team competition with a time of 1:53:15.3. They were led by Tim Miller, with Doug Moore, Christine Clonch, Emily Gordon and Andy Bell.
Breckinridge Parents took third in 2:47:44.1. Team members included Melissa Barnard, Christine Hoye, Kristie Myers, Erryn Barkett, Tina McClung and Blair Burke.
Greenfield Elementary and Troutville Elementary won the two first place Elementary Division Participation trophies. Greenfield again had the most runners—102—and Troutville again had the highest percentage of its students run in the race—31 percent.
Troutville had the second most runners (98) and Greenfield the second highest percentage of participation (24 percent) while Buchanan Elementary was third in each category with 61 runners and 20 percent of the students participating.
The oldest and youngest runners also were recognized. Peggy Bryant was the oldest (76), and Brayden Burns was the youngest (2).
