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Inaugural Half-Marathon Gets Out To Strong Start

Mark Pinson/Highlands Today

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By BRIAN GJURGEVICH Highlands Today

Published: January 26, 2009

SEBRING - A town famous for its racing heritage saw a few new times go into the record books early Saturday morning, as Doug Morton and Virginia Landress ran to top finishes at the inaugural Highlands Hammock Half Marathon at Highlands Hammock State Park.

Morton was the overall champion, completing the 13.1-mile loop through the park in 1 hour, 18 minutes and 31 seconds, while Landress was the overall female winner, finishing in 1:47:07.

Former Avon Park track and cross country coach Chet Brojek, who organized the race, said the idea came from his running club, the Central Florida Striders.

"It's the longest race we've ever run in Highlands County," Brojek said, noting 65 of 75 registered runners finished the early-morning run. "The idea came from when I was re-generating my running club and they wanted a longer distance than our 10Ks.

"I told them if they could run four miles they could finish a 13-miler, and they all bought in back in September."

Brojek said "97 to 98 percent" of his club finished, but that the race taught everyone an important lesson to take with them on the trail: "It shows them it's mind over matter."

As Brojek sounded the horn for the half-marathon beneath a freshly-risen sun, another group of runners took off in an opposite direction for the 5K run/walk, which was won by Charles Mendez in 20 minutes, 29 seconds. Jerry Whidden (21:49) finished in second place, followed by Sunil Kumar (22:59)

Other top finishers in the half-marathon included male masters (40+) champion Eddie NeSmith (1:20.17) and female masters winner Heidi Crutchfield (1:47.41). Grand master (60+) winners were John Schwarze (1:49.39) and Judye Mercer (3:17.01).

Brojek said the event raised more than $2,000 for the park and that he's looking forward to bringing the race back for a second year with better knowledge of how to pull off the dual event. It's more complicated than holding a stop watch: Water and aid stations need to be set up in the right areas, traffic into the park has to be taken into account and two herds of people need to be brought together simultaneously, only to be chased in opposite directions.

But Brojek seemed to be enjoying every minute of it.

"After the race, a lot of people were saying, 'I'm putting this on my calendar for next year,' " Brojek said. "And we can only grow."

Inaugural Highlands Hammock Half Marathon (13.1 miles) results

Male Champion - Doug Morton 1:18.31

Female Champion - Virginia Landress 1:47:07

Male Master (40+) -Eddie NeSmith 1:20.17

Female Master - Heidi Crutchfield 1:47.41

Male Grand Master (60+) - John Schwarze 1:49.59

Female Grand Master - Judye Mercer 3:17.01

Female Age Group Finish Order

15-19 Maxine Copley 1:50:51, Amanda Kennedy 1:54.20,

25-29 Sarah Brooker, Kristi Fredrickson 1:57.35, Holly Koornnef 2:29:37

30-34 Kim White 2:04:53, Holly Chamberlain 2:08.29, Karin Tallent 2:16.33, Jennifer Latham 2:34.21.

35-39 Vicki Musselman 1:51.25, Lisa Kinchen 2:24.50.

40 -44 Peggy Sueppel 1:54.40, Jennifer Glassburn 1:55.38, Evelyn Perez 2:04.39, Renee Kohl 2:26.12, Liz Carol 2:29.38.

45-49 Darlene Pigman 2:32.56, Darlene Celentano 2;34.39, Darlene Harris 3:17.38.

50-54 Laura Griffin 1:48.46, Lessa Skipper 2:23.48.

55-59 Dr. Elena Febre 2:35.09, Crystal Vanderpool 2:58.39.

Male Age Group Finish Order

20-24 Matthew Schult 1:38.13

25-29 Daniel Cole 1:40.16

30-34 Bobby Respress 1:41.03, Bob Swaine 1:53.30, Ryan Dorrell 2:11.51, Brian Leach 2:28:11, Matt Sboto 2:33.13.

35-39 Darryl Wirick 1:34.29, Ken Kandefer 1:35.21, Rob Moulds 1:49.26, Jeff Kasper 2:03.55.

40-44 Mike Quigley 1:32.40, Jose Ibanez 1:59.22

45-49 David Taylor 2:01.12, Steve Scheck 2:05.04, Mike Lee 2:12.36, Walter Kohl 2:14.16.

50-54 Ken Stechert 1:27.40, Steve Marquart 1:54.10, Randy Grice 1:55.19, Mike Martino 1:57.35, Tom Leach 2:10.15, Mason Whidden 2:14.25, Steve Hanken 2:26.47, Virgilio Ileto 2:34.09.

55-59 Gary Ruhle 1:41.09, Peter Lewia 1:48.31, Tom Lucas 1:52.36, Wes Mercer 1:53.33, Charlie Potter 2:13.48, Abe Lim 2:34.09.

65-69 Frank Wenger 2:34.40

70+ Harold Smith 2:19.35

Clydesdale Division: Richard Percy 2:11,12, Virgil McInvale 2:11.53.

Hammock Half 5K Run/Walk Order of Finish

(1). Charles Mendes 20:29,(2). Jerry Whidden 21:49, (3) Sunil Kumar 22:59, (4) Alfredo Perez 24:52, (5) Caitlyn Moulds 26:00, (6) Taylor Tubbs 27:03, (7) John Free 27:05, (8) Emily Smith 27:13, (9) Bridget Whitelock 27:20, (10) Wade White 27:30, (11) Joanne Webb 27:43, (12) Mike Kirsch 28:08, (13) Alex Whenton 28:19, (14) Tobey Smoak 28:22, (15) P.J. Patel 28:47, (16) Sarah Alvarez 29:20, (17) Fidel Roman 29:57, (18) Lizbeth White 30:34, (19) Heather Harshman 30:46, (21) Thalla Escobedo 31:09, (22) Marisa Tolention 31:09, (23) Ben Tubbs 31:55, (24) Scott Dewig 32:06, (25) Jackie Masar 32:11, (26) Jim Henry 32:29, (27) Amanda Johnson 33:11, (28) Summer Foster 33:12, (29) Leslie Kandefer 34:08, (30) Stacy Landress 34:13, (31) Mark Ronko 34.42, (32) Ken Hyman 34:46, (33) Cliff Ables 35:41, (34) Sharla Elliott 36:15, (35) Marcia Percy 36:16, (36) Mary Ann Henry 36:18, (37) Brana Santana 36:35, (38) Nickolas Pilione 37:56, (39) Arraitz Unanue 37:56, (40) Christian Nall 38:05, (41) Rebecca Mendes 40:28, (42) Carissa Mendes 40:29, (43) Kenneth Sanos 41:38, (44) Don Sallee 41:41, (45) Amaia Unanue 41:52, (46) Bianca 41:52, (47) Alice Segar 42:12, (48) Pranav Ananthan 46:32, (50) E.T. Nowell 46:46, (52) Terri Coyle 47:02, (53) Jan Coyle 47:16, (54) Julie Green 49:01, (55) Barbara Martinez 49:35, (56) Maggie Wenger 49:37, (57)Joey Piecione 50:25, (58) Bill Ridge 51:02, (59) Shirley Bourne 51:04, (60) Laura Coe 51:35, (61) Penny Piccione 51:36, (62) Shelia Tubbs 51:36, (63) Caroline Livingston 51:36.5, (64) Matthew Holmes 52:44,(65) Kenneth Lee Sarros 53:46, (66) Tiffany Holmes 54:44, (67) Teresa McInvale 54:44, (68) Siddharth Ananthan 55:42, (69) Gerrilynne Rentz 56:54, (70) Deannia Barr 57:00, (71) Carolyn Rentz 57:01, (72) Kartik Ananthan 58:30, (74) Ken Gillie 58:30, (75) Patty Gillie 58:31.

Brian Gjurgevich can be reached at 863-386-5841 or bgjurgevich@highlandstoday.com.

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