This past Thursday night the San Marcos Parks and Recreation Department hosted the Firecracker 5K race out at the River Ridge course. The weather cooperated by not raining and actually kept the temperature down to a comfortable level. There were around 100 runners that showed up for the race.

Looking over the field before the race and talking with some of the runners, it was looking like this was going to be a very competitive event with some fast times.

The first mile by the lead runners was just under a five-minute pace; and there were several runners behind the lead runner who were pushing the pace for the next 10 runners. The race was won with a sprint to the finish line with Jeremy Juarez from Lytle taking the overall men’s award with a fast time of 16:20. He was pushed by one of the Texas State cross country team members. The women’s overall champion was Kathryn Gunn with a time of 22:48.

The age group winners and entrants include the under-14-years-of-age men led by Kyle Hausmann from Austin in a time of 22:40. Right behind him were Trey and Seth Lawler with times of 33:55 for 2nd and 3rd place.

Greg Carbaugh was fourth with a time of 42:54. In the women’s 14-and-under age the winner was Storm Gunn with a time of 27:06, followed by Sarah Brannagan with a 27:09 in second. Victoria Ratliff came across in 30:07 and Katelyn Sundquist finished in 30:50.

In the men’s 15-19 age group, David Fisher from San Marcos again was a winner with a time of 18:10 and good for 5th place overall. Andrew Rendon came in right behind him in 18:33 and 6th place overall. Hunter Bradshaw had a 18:53 time and Andre Gibson followed with a 20:57 time. In the women’s 15-19 year age category, Amanda Rendon was first with a time of 30:11, followed by Brookney Hill who was entering her first 5K race and finished in second with a good time of 33:33.

In the men’s 20-29 year age, Kurt Wilson was the champion with a second place overall and a time of 17:04. He was followed by Tim Bayliss in second place in 17:40 and fourth overall. Third place went to Greg Lyons in 18:53. Gabriel Lucio ran in at 20:06; Phillip Adams timed in at 21:19, Davis Baker at 23:00 and Dan Bailey IV had a 24:09. Chris Mallonee came across in 31:02, Andrew Harn ran in at 29:50 and Ryan Dierker had a 27:33 time. In the women’s 20-29 age, Chassity Laird took first place with a 24:33 followed by Krista Betzing in 24:48 for a second place and Dori Chappell took third with a 25:27. Jessica Jolly was close behind with a 25:32 and Aaron Nosbisci had a 29:09, Crystal Bryce at 30:31, Tammie Beam was there with a 30:32 and Madison Whitlow ran in at 30:33 for a real close group finish. Ashley Harn ran a 31:00 time; Sarah and Julie Blackstone came across in 34:00 and Erin Camp ran a 35:50 time.

In the 30-39 year men’s age, Doug Framke from San Marcos took first place and third overall with a time of 17:12 with Tommy Machado in second in 22:07, and third went to Justin Johnson with a 23:40 as he came across with Charles Root with the same time. Mark Brendalen had a 23:37, Justin Dean was in at 25:36, Albert Pem at 24:29,and Daniel Garza ran a 24:35. Michael Cruz had a 25:34 and Carlos Molina timed in at 26:57, Chris Arlalph in 29:04 and David Nicosia in 27:01. For the women’s 30-39 year group, Nadine Kurtti gathered first place with a 26:26 time followed by Pamela Suddeth with a close finish at 26:38, and third went to Bessie Hamilton at 27:11. Paula Korzeniewski ran a 27:27, Monica Harn at 30:16 and Karen Lawhead finished in 35:53.

In the 40-49 men’s age category Ken Hausmann, a former Southwest Texas cross country runner, now from Austin, came down to encourage his son Kyle in a race and took first with a time of 19:25. Ben Cortez came in second with a 21:21 time that was almost a minute faster than some of his earlier races, and Eric Rindahl was third in 21:45. Paul Schaefer had a nice 22:19, and Eloy Collazo, San Marcos High School cross country coach, still runs a good time with a 22:30. Steve Carbaugh ran a 23:57 and Doug Brannagan ran to support his daughter and finished in 33:51. In the women’s group Janice Cuccia took first with a 30:41 followed by Jennifer Perez in 30:52 and Laura Mason in third with a 33:05. Cary Ratliff ran a 38:43 and Sherry Beam ran in at 39:47.

The men's 50-59 year age was won by Chevo in 19:43, followed by Paul Paese in 20:01 (and yesterday Paul ran his 600th day in a row). Third place was Lucio Valencia in 24:10 with Robert Lucio in 24:12; Douglas Billnitzar in 24:27, Paul Hernandez ran in at 25:21; Dan Gibson, supporting his son Andre, came across in 27:08. Bill Harn ran in at 29:50 to complete the family that runs together has a great time together; and David Alexander finally had a chance to run in a race instead of being the race director and ran in at 29:56. Spunky Anderson had a 31:05, Terry Thornhill a 33:07 and Claude Tice in 32:37. The women’s 50 - 59 year age was won by Bernadette Beck from San Antonio with a time of 23:59, followed by Alicia Gale in 27:38 and Teresa Medina in third with a 31:25 time. Elma Minor had a 32:22 and Nelda Pannell race-walked in at 33:39. Carmen Long ran in at 35:03 and Cindy Rubin had a 41:40.

The men’s 60-69 year age was won by David Allen in 27:11, followed by James Long in 28:08 and Bob Lunny in 34:34. The women’s 60-69 age group was won by Gloria Anderson in 33:53, followed by Juli Koroly in second place in 44:26.

The over-70 age group for the men was won by Al Hale up from San Antonio with a 33:07 time, and next was Edmond Corley in 34:24. The women’s 70+ age group was once again won by Vonda Lee Adorno with a excellent time of 31:46.