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| The Kickoff Run 5K
1 Dec 01 - Front Royal, VA |
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| | These links lead to pages outside of the SVR Web site, and are here just for fun. The club bears no responsibility for the content of the linked pages! |
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Who is your favorite pro athlete of all time?
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RESPONSES BY SPORT:
 | running/track | 13.2 | 19.7% |
 | football | 9.7 | 14.4% |
 | baseball | 9.2 | 13.7% |
 | basketball | 2 | 3.0% |
 | equestrian | 2 | 3.0% |
 | fig. skating | 2 | 3.0% |
 | cycling | 1 | 1.5% |
 | gymnastics | 1 | 1.5% |
 | hockey | 1 | 1.5% |
 | soccer | 1 | 1.5% |
| | nonpro | 11 | 16.4% |
| | no answer | 13 | 19.4% |
MOST POPULAR RESPONSES:
| 1. | Steve Prefontaine | 4 |
| 2. | Jim Thorpe | 2 |
| | Marion Jones | 2 |
TEAMS ON WHICH THE MOST # OF ATHLETES PLAYED:
| 1. | New York Yankees | 5 |
| 2. | Cincinnati Reds | 3 |
| | Wash. Redskins | 3 |
| | Wash. Senators | 3 |
| 5. | Calif. Angels | 2 |
| | Kansas City Athletics | 2 |
| | Philadelphia Eagles | 2 |
| | New York Giants | 2 |
| | Detroit Tigers | 2 |
| | Minnesota Twins | 2 |
| | Pgh. Steelers | 2 |
MOST UNUSUAL RESPONSES:
| • | Race car drivers David Coultard, Dale Earnhardt, & Jeff Gordon (technically not athletes)
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| • | Philly Phanatic (mascot of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team)
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| • | Atalanta (a figure in Greek mythology)
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| • | Hank Williams (Jr. is the singer of the "Monday Night Football" song)
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| • | Bill Melson, James Kerby, Fred Franklin, Denny Myers, & Mark Vann (all were participants in the race)
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The race kicks off
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The twentieth annual Shenandoah Valley Runners Winter Series got off to a successful start at the Kickoff Run 5K, the only new event in this year's series! A last minute change in location from the Warren County School Board office in Front Royal to Ressie Jeffries Elementary School just up the road did not seem to faze the sixty-seven participants, who enjoyed sunny skies and temperatures around 60° on the morning of Saturday 1 December 2001. Going along with the "kickoff" theme, many runners wore sports-related attire, although most wore plain ol' running clothes.
Stan's opening kick
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Race director Stan Brooks decided to forego the usual starting commands, instead starting the race with the kick of a Nerf football. With that, the participants began an uncertified but wheel-measured 3.1 mile route taking them around the school, into the Shenandoah National Park, up the Dickey Ridge Trail and down Skyline Drive twice, and back up towards the school to the finish. "Challenging" would be a good word to describe the course, especially given the | |
Adam Markley climbs to the finish
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mile of leafy & rocky trails where the footing was worsened by the previous day's rains. As most runners were unfamiliar with the course, many ended up going out too fast and gasping for breath during their second climb up the Dickey Ridge Trail. The steep uphill finish was a final sadistic touch-- but the author spotted many a runner finishing with a smile.
'99-'00 Winter Series champion Dustin Sweeney, now studying at Hagerstown Community College in Maryland, showed up for a fairly easy men's victory, cruising to the finish in 17:09. The D-Man was followed by the trio of Middletown's Frank Curiel, Loudoun Valley High School All-District cross-country runner
Frank Curiel, Brian Markley, James Kerby
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Brian Markley, and James Kerby of Carnation, Washington. All three were relatively close to each other at the halfway point, but Curiel managed to hang onto the second spot and finish in 17:33. Kerby, younger brother of SVR Junior President Rick Kerby and an award-winning ultrarunner, passed Markley near the end and finished third in 17:39. Markley wound up just two seconds back for fourth. And taking fifth in 18:32 was a tired Mark Vann, who got lost on his warmup with Jerry Anderson and had to run hard just to make it back in time for the start!
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Susan Musante
Miller vs. Krossman
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The women's competition was won by Arlington resident Susan Musante, who battled with Sherando High School's Rachel Eisenfeld for much of the race. Musante pulled ahead during the second half and finished in 21:29, followed by Eisenfeld eleven seconds later. The race for third was as close as you can get, with Winchester's Vicky Krossman squaring off against Cross Junction's Julie Miller in an uphill sprint to the finish! Krossman just barely managed to hold off Miller, with both women being credited with finishes in 22:44. Fifth went to Winter Series veteran Ruth Riemenschneider, last year's series champ, in 23:07.
Laurice Corbitt
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Perhaps due to the race's lack of promotion outside of the running club, all but five of the finishers were SVR members! And at least sixteen of those SVR members were making their Winter Series debuts: Zach Bradford, Joe Cerreto, Laurice Corbitt, Diane Daddio, Jessie Daddio, Rob Davies, Mary Deppa, Tina Gray, Loren Little, Stewart Lockhart, Kathy Manzo, Mike Meadows, James Rohr, | |
S. Lockhart
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Jerry Scholder, John Sine, and Colleen Snyder. Welcome! We hope we'll see y'all a few more times as this year's Winter Series continues. It was also good to see David Black, Bill Melson, and Judy McCarthy, who haven't been seen during the Winter Series in a year or two. And congratulations to 11-year-old Carlin Kulp, who completed his first 5K ever in an excellent time of 26:42!
The tradition of including a post-race poll or quiz question on the finish cards continued at the Kickoff Run, with the latest poll question being: "Who is your favorite professional athlete of all time?" Volunteer Lucy Haywood attempted to sabotage the poll by writing "Sandy Koufax" on the cards of everyone who didn't write down an answer. But 55 people
Incorrigible Lucy Haywood
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did write down answers, and the most popular athlete (aside from the Lucy's favorite Dodger pitcher) proved to be the deified distance runner Steve Prefontaine-- chosen by Brian & Adam Markley, Jerry Scholder, and Cheryl Harrison. Picked by two participants each were multi-sport legend Jim Thorpe (by Frank Curiel & Jon Whitehead) and and multi-event tracker | |
Jessie & Diane Daddio
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& fielder Marion Jones (by Julie Miller & Kathy Manzo). Diane & Jessie Daddio, meanwhile, picked Fauquier County equestrian faves David & Karen O'Connor, respectively. Among the stranger picks were Krista & Patrick Farris' figure skating faves Dick Button & Philippe Candeloro (wanna bet they weren't serious?); Terry Leckie's choice of the entire Pittsburgh Steelers football team; and Beth Whitehead's choice of the Philly Phanatic, the Philadelphia Phillies team mascot. A few folks even named fellow Kickoff Run competitors as their favorite pro athletes! Rick Kerby picked his brother; Zach Bradford named Bill Melson; Carlin Kulp chose Denny Myers; and Jen Peachey sank to new lows by picking Mark Vann. The worst response, however, came from Fred Franklin, who chose himself-- "A legend in his own mind," he wrote. (More post-race poll stats can be found in the sidebar at upper right.)
Stan Brooks
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Anyway, let us send out many many thanks to first-time race director Stan Brooks, who certainly did a fine job! Stan was aided by his wife Rhonda, along with volunteers Tim Darr, Tammy Darr, Haley Darr, Nicole something-or-other, Lucy & Brian Haywood, Cheryl Harrison, and the lightning-fast Emily Harrison. Thanks, y'all! Thanks as well to Ressie Jeffries Elementary School, the Warren County School Board, and the Front Royal Police Department, all of whom helped us put on a safe and successful event. And your author would also like to acknowledge the quality photographic work of Rachel Eisenfeld's mom, who had an unfamiliar digital camera thrust into her hands by the Webmaster just moments before the race.
The 2001-2002 Winter Series continues on Saturday 15 December 2001 with the Jingle Bell 5K at Blandy Experimental Farm & State Arboretum in Boyce, VA, so we hope to see y'all there. In the meantime, don't forget to check out the full Kickoff Run 5K results and all 117 pictures from the race!
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