Friday, July 3, 1998 -- Alderson
Andrew Pierce 5 Mile Run/1 Mile Run

[Overall Results]

It was a beautiful morning for a run in Alderson on Friday, June 3rd. The relatively flat, 5 mile course, took the runners around the town of Alderson and along the scenic Greenbrier River. The 1998 race, as it is every year, was run in conjunction with the 37th Annual 4th of July Celebration, "West Virginia's Largest Independence Day Celebration".

The day's race quickly became a battle between Danny Keatly and Sharon Peake. Sharon was able to keep ahead of her male pursuer and kept the overall lead for much of the race. However, late in the race 51-year-old Danny Keatly was able to overtake his female rival and put together a strong finish to win by almost a minute and a half in a time of 31:08. Sharon Peake was able to easily take second place overall, almost a minute ahead of the rest of the field, in a time of 32:33. Her time was good enough for a female course record.

The battle for third and fourth saw Richmond Hall maintain a small lead over Bruce Chalton for most of the race, but Bruce never was able to close on Richmond's small lead. At the finish line, Richmond came across at 33:32 with Bruce still on his heals at 33:37.

In the battle for second and third overall female finisher, Jane Rodrique and Eileen Bailey came across the line in a dead heat. It turns out that they are very good friends and neither wanted to cross the line ahead of the other. So, to determine who would get which award, George Ambler, the race director, held the awards behind his back and allowed Eileen to blindly choose left arm or right arm. As luck would have it, Eileen chose third place and her good friend Jane was given the second place award. This show of complete unselfishness and friendship is what makes the entire Alderson 4th of July Celebration a wonderful event for everyone to enjoy.