Arron Kaylor races through the morning fog

Saturday, August 1, 1998 -- Fayetteville
Fayette County 5K Challenge

[More Pictures] [Results]

The second running of the Fayette County 5K Challenge was a great success. The course turned out to be much tougher than expected, but the beautiful weather and scenery made up for much of the anguish the runners endured. The course was a cross country course setup by the Fayette County Park and Lori Gardner, and was touted as one of the toughest courses on the high school circuit last year.

Heath Dameron finds his way through the trees

Wet grass made this year's race somewhat treacherous in places, especially the steep downhill. Wes MacDonald, the winner of the 30-34 age group, said, "Some of those downhill were downright dangerous!" However, not everyone agreed with Mr. MacDonald's statement. Aaron Kaylor, the overall winner with a time of 20:20, said, "I think the course was kind of easy." Mr. Kaylor held the lead the entire race and never looked back.

The battle for second place was a little different. Jonathan Calhoun held 2nd place for the entire race up until the last 300 yds, when he took a wrong turn and Heath Dameron passed him. Jonathan was not going to give up that easy and after getting back on track, he sprinted and passed Heath to retake 2nd place for the finish.

Lori Gardner was able to run her own race

Both young men were in good spirits after the race, and Heath said that Jonathan deserved the 2nd place finish. However, this is Jonathan's 2nd time getting lost on a course this year, so maybe we need to give him better directions next time?

While the course may be easy for Mr. Kaylor, many were suffering on the very steep uphills that dotted the wooded trail section of the course. Lori Gardner, who also organized this wonderful race, won the female class with a time of 24:55. The very nature of this beautiful 5K cross-country race course insures that the race will be one many runners will come back to again and again.