Return to story

On revamped course, Young runs first-place time

July 5, 2008 12:15 am

BY KURT NICOLL

Exciting new faces and the first course change in 10 years added to the suspense and excitement surrounding the 28th annual Lions Club's Heritage Day Festival 5-miler yesterday.

Tim Young of Fredericksburg blew away the field of a record-high 652 entries with his winning time of 25 minutes and 41 seconds--finishing 1:36 ahead of Bert Jacoby, who posted his fourth straight runner-up finish graciously.

"Every year, a different person comes in and beats me. And Tim is really fast," the local elementary school teacher said. "Every time I have lost, I have run well. You can't win every race, and I'm happy."

A rising senior at James Madison University, Young downplayed his first-time victory a bit, noting he was in regular-training mode for next month's Wawa 10-miler.

Even so, his clocking was the fastest in the event since Jason Van Horne's 25:13 in 1998--the last time the course was modified due to traffic concerns.

"I felt a little dehydrated from the get-go," said Young, the winner of the Marine Corps' Historic Half Marathon in May. "About 1-2 miles into it, I started to feel dehydrated, cotton mouthed and cramping up. Toward the end, it was pretty bad. Just talk yourself through it."

Eleventh-place finisher Terry McLaughlin was impressed with the effort nevertheless.

"It was amazing, especially with this weather," the Massad Branch YMCA sports director indicated. "The temperature was low, but the humidity was high."

Patrick Quinn of the U.S. Naval Academy posted a strong third-place finish after being plagued by tendonitis much of the year.

"I didn't go into today with much of a strategy. I just wanted to finish in the top three," the former North Stafford High standout said. "Tim went out really fast, and Bert and I just decided to let him go.

"We worked together for about 3-3 miles. That's when he started to separate on me."

Quinn, who finished in 28:28, will be back on the track next weekend when he and West Chester State's Max Bernardes reunite to compete in the team portion of the Colonial Beach Tri-athlon, which they entered following their junior years in high school.

Like Young, Leah Daugherty turned in a stellar first-time effort, finishing 48 seconds behind repeat winner Julia Smith on the women's side.

"I just wanted to run hard and have fun," the 23-year-old former Boulder, Colo. resident indicated. "My sweat doesn't dry here; it just continues to run and I get completely drenched. But I didn't notice it this morning."

A week ago, Daugherty placed third in the women's pro division of the Spirit of Morgantown (W.Va.) Half Ironman. She initially plan-ned to enter the upcoming Colonial Beach Tri-athlon, but she is anxious about the possibility of stings from jellyfish, from which she suffers an allergic reaction.

Smith was pleased with her performance, knocking four seconds off her winning time of the previous season, despite struggling with the humidity.

Shortly after the race, she and her husband David Smith departed for Blacksburg to compete in a series of cycling races this weekend.

"I tried to pace myself with Jack Morrison. He took off hard and I thought, 'Well, hang on and see what you can do,'" the veteran runner from Tappahannock said. "I kind of fell apart the last mile and hung on for deal life until I got off that nasty little hill and hoped for the best those last two blocks."

Brittany Copeland was the first of nine current or former Brooke Point High runners to complete the race, placing third in 31:51.

"It went well," the rising East Carolina University athlete indicated. "I asked Coach [Dan] Lee if I could run it. He said go out relaxed and have fun with it."

RESULTS

Kurt Nicoll: 540/374-5441
Email: knicoll@freelancestar.com