Decent weather and a bit of promotion helped the Poker Run 5K draw an impressive 74 participants, triple the turnout of the opening Winter Series race in 1998! The 74 runners and walkers faced a stiff wind and uneven terrain as they looped around fields and trails near Sherando High School outside of Stephens City. Grabbing playing cards during the final mile was an additional challenge, but volunteers Tom Sullivan, Cassie Ritter, and Robyn Ritter did their best to make sure that every runner ended up with a full poker hand.

William Frye finished with the best hand, a four of a kind, and he took home a plaque with his winning poker hand mounted on it (by co-race director and experienced plaque-assembler, Kim L. Weisgerber). Lucy Haywood, the final finisher in the 5K (pictured at left), fared much better at poker. She had the second-highest hand with an aces-high full house, and she won a copy of the Academy Award-winning 1973 film "The Sting". Third was Leesa Anderson, who received a hand-held battery-powered poker game. Other poker-themed prizes given away included a box of "2000 Flushes", a stud finder (as in "stud poker"), tortilla chips ("chips", get it?), Virginia Lotto cards, and playing cards.

In the 5K race itself, Eric Chandler (who paid his entry fee in loose change, which the Webmaster had to count... grrr!) easily won the men's competition in 17:58. The steadily-improving Ryan Bayne outpaced Clarke County High's Dustin Sweeney for second. Mark Stickey (still recovering from his recent 2:27 marathon effort) and Warren County High's Jeff Jardine rounded out the men's top five.

Ruth Riemenschneider (at right) came out on top in the women's race, finishing a minute ahead of runner-up Kim Burns in 21:41. Last year's Winter Series champ Krista Farris was third, and Michelle Shultz and Vicky Krossman finished two seconds apart for fourth and fifth, respectively.

Many congratulations were extended to participants John Rice and Tracy Herron, who were scheduled to get married mere hours after the race's end! (John was also subjected to a number of ribald comments as he finished the race, it should be noted.) The happy couple was presented with a cake after the race by Nancy Specht and Kim Weisgerber. We all hope that John and Tracy remain as devoted to each other as they obviously are to running.

Many thanks to co-race directors Tim Ritter and Kim Weisgerber, and to all the volunteers (Cathy, Robyn & Cassie Ritter; Tom Sullivan; Bill Osuch; Ruth Weisgerber; and a couple of others whose names I do not have). Let's hope the other Winter Series events are as well-run as this one! If you haven't done so already, be sure to check out the full race results.