Saturday, November 6, 2004 -- Rowlesburg, WV
Rowlesburg 10K River Run (iPO Event Id#: 6478)
Story and photos by Don Parks

[Details] [Coverage] [Overall Results] [Pic Set 1] [Pic Set 2] [Pic Set 3] [Pic Set 4]

Off and running in Rowlesburg

The quiet drive from Kingwood to Rowlesburg along the Cheat River on lonely Route 72 couldn't have been nicer. It was a crisp fall morning with the sun shining bright and the river glistening, the perfect setting for a run.

Gathering at the very well kempt Rowlesburg City Park for the start, it would be a 5K run downstream to the turnaround and then another 5K upstream back to the finish. Adding a little diversion to the run was a quick trip through a limestone cave soon after the turnaround.

Breaking away to form an early lead group of four were Zach Serian, Eli Owens, Travis Mersing, and Josh Mullenax. This pack of teenagers slowly spread out and by time they reached the 5K mark it was Owens setting the pace with Serian running just a few strides back. Not far off the leaders' pace was Mersing while Mullenax had dropped of the pace and was caught by Drew Richardson.

Setting the pace early

The second half of the race became a battle between Owens and Serian with Serian eventually pulling away for the win at 37:11. Owens, who was running in moccasins with no socks, easily held on for second at 37:51. "I usually like to run barefoot," he told us. But the pavement was a little rough for his feet on this day.

Behind the leaders Richardson had moved ahead of Mullenax and was gunning for third place. But Mersing had enough to hold him off for the third spot finishing at 39:46 to Richardson's 40:08. Mullenax settled for the fifth spot with a time of 42:31.

On the women's side it was all Bethany Scott from start to finish. She easily took the win with a time of 44:31, seventh place overall.

Bethany Scott makes it look easy

In a "race" for second it was Ashley Teets and Kaylyn Christopher running stride for stride the whole way. It appears the two friends weren't too concerned with who finished ahead of whom. But in the end someone had to earn second place honors and it ended up going to Teets, even though they both were awarded the same finishing time of 47:56.

After the racing there was an abundance of refreshments for everyone. A big thanks is owed to race director David Pauley, the Knights of Columbus #9578, all the volunteers that help support the Preston High School Cross Country, and everyone else that contributed to the 2004 running of the Rowlesburg 10K River Run.