Sunday, December 11, 2011 -- Charleston, WV / CAMC Memorial Hospital
Winter Series #1 - 5K Run & 3K Walk (iPO Event Id#: 13729)

[Details] [Coverage] [Photos] [Overall Results] [Results by Class]

Pacing Predictions

Story and photos by Daniel Todd.

The runners are ready.

Saturday was a day for predictions. Some of which came true and others that didn't. Prior to the starting countdown I quickly asked who WK Munsey thought would win. He quickly answered Jason Pyles and Emily Chaney. I was thinking that Sami Harris had a shot at the top female, but WK was basing his prediction on past performances. Whereas I was basing mine on my gut. Turns out Pyles was last years 10K race winner and Chaney had just won the Marshall University Marathon in November.

WK also had thrown out Allison Cox as an potential upset after her strong finish and 1st place female run in the Marshall University Half Marathon. The results will show that it was a good thing I didn't place a wager with WK.

Warm day in December.

My next prediction is that this will be the best weather of the entire series. Blue bird skies and mid 40's is about as perfect as it gets for running in December. We will have to wait until February to see if I'm right. I was nice not to have to bust out the YakTrak to take pictures.

The turn out for the walk was a nice indicator for what was to come. Forty-five walkers completed the 1.8 mile walk with a couple staying and running the 5K too.

The Winter Series' most consistent speed walker stepped up to finished first and well before the 5K runners started rolling in for registration.

As the 5K runners started lining up I kept shaking my head simply amazed by the turn out. Three-hundred runners toed the line and 296 runners were clocked at the finish line. Jason Pyles cruised to the finish with a 42 second buffer over 2nd place Trey Beckett with a 15:29 besting Beckett's 16:11. Matthew Bradford's 17:03 was fast enough for 3rd place.

Great races to do in Charleston.

Emily Chaney set the pace for the women clocking a 17:54. Sami Harris and Allison Cox crossed the finish line about a half minute after Chaney. Harris bested Cox by 8 seconds with an 18:31.

So if you are keeping score Munsey 2 to Todd 0.

The Winter Series is a joint effort by Charleston City Parks and the Tallman Track Club (tallmantrackclub.com).

The next race in the Winter Series is on Sunday, January 8, 2012.

Start the new year with this race that features a 4.9 mile run and a 2.4 mile walk!

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View Past Coverage

2007-08: [Race 1] [Race 2] [Race 3] 2008-09: [Race 2] [Race 3]

2009-10: [Race 1] [Race 2] [Race 3] 2010-11: [Race 1] [Race 2] [Race 3]

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