Last week the “From Here to Eternity” 5K was held over by Lamar School and through the cemetery. The turnout was small compared to previous years, but the enthusiasm was the same. Randall Wood was again the overall men’s champion over this challenging course with a time of 19:52. Joe Gomez was second in 20:55 and was the men’s Master’s champion. Elizabeth Wills was the women’s champion over Bernadette Beck, last week’s Pet Fest 5K champion. Bernadette was in front up the hill leading to the cemetery; but on the return downhill, Elizabeth lengthened her stride and passed Bernadette in the cemetery, and came across the finish line looking very strong in a time of 24:14. Bernadette was the women’s Master’s champion in 24:50.

As I heard from many of the runners this year, they were asking how much of a lead I was going to need since last year the lead runners passed me going up that long hill. David Alexander asked me if I would again lead the race, and I said that it takes two lead bikes to make it a successful venture. David said he would start the runners out and I would take over at the top of the hill, and then he could go back and help at the finish line. At about five minutes past eight o’clock, I saw David pedaling up the hill but no runners in sight. Shortly after that, Randall Wood came into view and was gaining on David. David made it almost to the top of the hill and hit the little increase in steepness before being passed by Randall. I asked him what kind of a lead he had when he started. He mentioned that he took a two-block lead to get ahead of the runners and did a better job than I did last year with a nice one-block lead. I took over from there and had the easy part of the lead through the cemetery and down the hill to the finish line.

Other local and area runners who entered included Alton Jarman in first in the female 19-and-under division with a time of 33:07. In the male 20-29 age group Michael McGehee took first in 22:45, Davin Bjornaas was second in 24:48 and Eric Sial in third in 35:53. Lauren Lace took first in the female division. In the male 30-39 age group, John McGlothlin was first in 22:36; Travis Hunt was second in 33:45 and third went to Edwin Brister in 1:07:09. Female runners in that age group were Faith DeBow in first in 28:23, Jessica Diaz in second in 29:28, third was Liesela Austin in 32:16 and Cindy Hooper came in at 41:58. It was good to see Jessica Diaz and Naomi Medina run together, as both are top fitness competitors in figure and bodybuilding contests around the state. Running is one good way to keep that lean muscle tone for their competitions.

Ben Cortez was first in the male 40-49 age group with a time of 22:43, and Robert Bermea as second in 45:22. For the women, Naomi Medina was second in 29:30, Diana Esparza was third in 31:40 followed by Anita Long in 31:50, Laura Mason in 34:04 and Danette Bermea in 40:49. Perrin Wells was first in the male 50-59 age group and Michael DeBow was second in 48:53. Elma Minor was first in that age group for the women in 31:57 and Maggie Hunt was second in 45:23. Thomas Beitinger came down from Denton to visit and took first in the male 60-and-over age group in a time of 23:33; Ronnie Murphey gathered in second in 34:19 and Al Hale had third in 36:05. Marilyn Brister took first for the female 60-and-over age category in 1:07:08.

Next up is the Red Ribbon Run on October 20th out at the River Ridge course. This is always a popular run because it is flat and fast for the runners who want a good time. Some runners think the course is long; but the reason is that the course is a certified course, and many of the other area runs are measured with a car or handheld wheel system that is not considered accurate by the road racing technical committee.