Colder conditions, complete with fresh snow, did not deter runners from participating in Saturday’s Spring Runoff 5K road race. Race director Chris Smith thought attendance would be down due to the weather but the turnout was strong.
“At 8:45 I thought we would have fewer than last year’s 72 but we had the majority of athletes register a bit later than is typical,” said Smith.
The second race of the County Challenge series saw 82 individual runners and walkers and one relay team take part. Susan Plissey clocked the course in 19:55 to take top honors while Sam Sheehan ran the fastest men’s time of 17:09 for the 3.1 mile distance. Plissey, who won the opening series race in Houlton in February as well, has a solid hold on the series lead with the SRO win. Sheehan is now tied with Evan Graves, winner of the Houlton event, who did not attend as he had entered the Boston Marathon. Jesse Stephens, Jordan Powers and Stefan Ciszewski were the winners of the relay division with a combined time of 17:28.
Saturday’s age group winners were: walkers: Liz Andretta (46:05) and Paul Berg (37:52); 14 and under: Jaylee Fox (30:47) and Nathan Anderson (20:24); 15-18: Hannah Saunders (22:38) and Drew Freme (17:42); 19-29: Rene Laliberty (21:56) and Emerson Wright (18:48); 30-39: Tracy Fox (37:35) and Thomas Beckum (17:32); 40-49: Linda Mountain (23:16) and Newall Lewey (19:21); 50-59: Connie McLellen (24:03) and David Tree (19:21); and 60-69: Don Zillman (25:46). Complete results of the race can be viewed at http://www.coolrunning.com/results/07/me/Apr14_Spring_set1.shtml.
The next race in the County Challenge Series is the S.W. Collins 5K on June 24. The day features a kid’s 1K run beginning at 8:30 a.m. followed by 5K walkers at 9:30 a.m. and runners at 10 a.m.