Sunday, April 13, 2008 -- Morgantown, WV / Krepps Park, Suncrest
Ambulance Chase 5K - MAGP Sprint #2 (iPO Event Id#: 10763)

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8th Annual Kicks-off Spring

Article and photos by Nathan Reckart

Lawyers chase the ambulance

Overcast skies and temperatures in the mid 40s set the scene for the second race in the 2008 Morgantown Area Grand Prix (MAGP) Sprint Series presented by Dynamic Physical Therapy. On Sunday afternoon in Morgantown, WV, race volunteers set up for the highly anticipated post race cookout as 120 racers swarmed around Krepps Park, preparing for the 8th running of the Ambulance Chase 5K.

As tradition would have it, students from the WVU Law School, dressed in suits and ties, began the event by "chasing" an ambulance down Rotary Street in a comical fashion. Shortly thereafter, the real race began.

Fayetteville, WV resident and reigning 2007 MAGP Sprint Series champion, Larry Taylor, put up a convincing men's first place finish with a time of 17:24 and captured the first place ranking in this years MAGP Sprint Series in the process.

Brian Pettit and Murshid Latif

Larry is no stranger to the MAGP race series, having won both the Sprint and Endurance Series last year. He has come out strong this year and after two races in each series he is first in the Sprint Series rankings and fifth Endurance Series ranking. Could he be on his way to a repeat series sweep?

Morgantown local Brian Pettit (17:39) held off fellow local Dr. Murshid Latif (17:50) for the second place spot. Latif's third place finish has him in second place, two points behind Taylor, in the current MAGP Sprint Series rankings. This was the first MAGP race for Brian this year. His strong performance may be a sign of things to come as the season progresses.

Heather Parks made the short trip from Bruceton Mills, WV and claimed the women's first place finish in 19:41. For those who aren't familiar with Heather, this was her first race after giving birth to her first child just nine weeks ago. She put on quite an impressive showing.

Jen Sober (20:00), from McHenry, MD, clenched the second place finish, 19 seconds behind Heather. Morgantown local Lindsay Rutherfod (21:17) took third.

Sporting the race non-casual wear

This was the first MAGP Sprint Series race for all of the top three females. Heather, Jen, and Lindsay are currently ranked 18th, 19th, and 20th in the women's MAGP Sprint Series standings, respectively.

Nine-year-old Kaylyn Harris's women's 7th place finish earned her the 1st place Sprint Series points ranking, and 15-year-old Sarah Ray's women's 4th place finish earned her the 2nd place series ranking. Keep your eye on these two. Their future looks bright.

Following the race everyone headed to the Krepps Park pavilion to evade the light rain that had started to fall and enjoy the wonderful food prepared by the volunteers. The burgers and hotdogs were consumed almost as fast as the grill masters could produce them. Those lawyers sure know how to throw a party.

The Ambulance Chase 5K was hosted by the West Virginia University Law school and a portion of all the proceeds will be donated to West Virginia Senior Legal Aid, which provides free civil legal services to qualified West Virginians over age 60.

For more information on Senior Legal Aid, visit the website at http://www.seniorlegalaid.org/.