Sunday, February 27, 2000 -- Athens, WV
SWVRRC Winter Series #2
Story and photos by Pam Anderson

[Coverage] [Pictures] [Results]

A rainy start in Athens

The quiet mountain side campus of Concord College was the site for a rain-soaked 5k race this Sunday. The scenic landscape and beautiful campus made for a great run despite the rainy day. The sudden downpour at the start time didn't dampen the spirits of the eighteen runners from taking off to conquer the challenging sloping course.

The first sighting of the runners occurred when Aaron Philips and Kevin Leedy could be seen coming through the parking lot and on to the track for their final sprint with Aaron pulling ahead to cross the finish line with a time of 18:51 and Kevin close on his heels with a time of 18:53. Both are avid runners participating in events around the state.

Aaron Philips sprinting to the finish

Shelly Cradall was the first female runner to finish, with a time of 23:40. She had her work cut out for her, though, with Concord College track team member Brandy Parker from Parkersburg runing hard with a time of 24:19. A special treat for the day was Sister Gerry Murray of Pocahontas Va. Sister Gerry runs many of the area races and said she beat her last race time by almost four minutes today.

This challenging 5k race was sponsored by the SWVRRC and race director was Tom Davis, Concord College Track Coach.