Saturday, June 10, 2006 -- Kanawha City, WV
Run with a Cop 5K (iPO Event Id#: 7548)

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

Event Coverage: [1999] [2000] [2001] [2002] [2003] [2004] [2005]

Story and photos by George Gannon

Heading out onto the streets

Benefiting the Special Olympics of West Virginia, the annual Run with a Cop promotes fitness, cardiovascular health, confidence, discipline, and self-esteem.

It's always better to run with a cop than to run from one.

A foot pursuit can only end badly. You might outrun an officer, but, chances are, they'll get you sooner rather than later.

With the of the racers who showed up for the 2006 edition of the Run With A Cop 5K, the police would have a devil of time trying to catch them.

Getting outside together...

The flat and fast course winds its way through Kanawha City, and is perfect for runners hoping to turn on the speed when they see the flashing blue lights. And one runner who's lucky she didn't get a ticket is 15-year-old phenom Chelsea Jarvis. The Capitol High School track star is the youngest winner they've ever had at the popular Capitol City race.

Jarvis got out quick and never looked back.

"I'm happy with my time," said the flaxen-haired sophomore. "I wanted to finish under 21 and I did."

Diana Johnson (21:45) took second for the ladies and Roxane Carte (22:11) rounded out the top three.

Racing wth the Cops

For the men, it was a heated race to finish between Brooks Crislip and Chuck Dent. Dent got out of the gate fast, leading for most of the race, but Crislip turned on the jets about midway through. He and Dent were neck and neck, and Crislip had just enough at the end to stave off a furious push by the vetern city racer. Crislip, fresh of his second place finish at the Beat Beethoven 5K last weekend, said the last stretch was pretty tough but he managed to tough it out.

"It was rough. I had just enough at the end," said the Charleston native.

Dent was only three seconds off the pace, crossing the line at 16:11.Matther Null took third place (16:58).

The Charleston Police Department sponsors the race, and it's a good thing the authorities were on hand, because with that much speed in one place, thins could have gotten out of hand ¦ real fast.