Race popular as ever

By AARON SNYDER / For The Independent

RUSSELL June 13, 2009 11:14 pm

— The numbers keep increasing and past runners keep returning in tip-top form for the Run by the River in Russell.
The 32nd annual race that runs through downtown Russell and Worthington included 233 participants on Saturday morning.
That is 33 more runners than last year.
“That’s at least a recent record,” said race director Tim Gearheart. “It may not shatter any all-timers from the early years of the race when it did attract into the two hundreds.”
One mainstay in the yearly run, which includes both a 5K and 10K race, is Mandy Musick, a 2006 graduate of Fairview.
Musick won the female 10K after taking second last year. She finished first in the event in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
Musick clocked in at 44:10 on Saturday, a personally satisfying number.
“I don’t really expect to win, I just shoot for my time,” Musick said. “If I run a good time, I’m pretty happy no matter what place I get.”
Musick is gearing toward an even better 10K time in the annual Summer Motion run on the weekend of July 4th.
“I ran a lot better than I thought I would,” Musick said. “I’d like to run it in forty-two or forty-three at Summer Motion.”
A couple of current Fairview students made their mark as well. Brooklyn Bowen and Maddy Rymer placed first and second in the 14 and under division, with times of 49:02 and 49:50.
Fresh off a first-place finish in the Huntington Run for Hope 5K Race two weeks ago, Steven Egnatoff had the best time of the day in the male 10K, with a 37:23.
The Run by the River was the first 10K in which the 15-year-old Cabell Midland student has competed.
Pierce Reeves, a 17-year-old of Ironton, was crowned the champion of the male 5K with a time of 17:41.
Kat Alcorn, the female 5K champion, ran the course in an impressive time of 19:26. Her mother, Lois Alcorn, finished second in the female 40-44 age group.
For Reeves, it was the first time competing in the Run by the River, and he was impressed.
“It’s a really nice, flat course,” Reeves said. “It’s probably the most organized race in the area.”
Gearheart was especially delighted with the turnout with other area races going on.
“I’m very pleased because we had several competing races today—one in Portsmouth, one in Charleston, the Hatfield and McCoy in Kentucky. We would’ve done even better if some of those hadn’t been on the same day.”
Gearheart said the race, which is sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of East Greenup County, will feature the same process for next year’s race, including pre-registration.
“One suggestion we’ve had is to offer a better incentive for pre-registration to smooth things up,” Gearheart said. “But we’ll keep it the same next year. Everybody here today got next year’s flyer in their bag. All they have to do is just fill it out and send it back.”
Registration for next year’s race has already begun, and forms can also be found online at tristateracer.com.

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