Nearly 150 runners took part in the annual Turkey Trot 5k/10k race on a cold and windy Saturday at Fort Leonard Wood's Davidson Fitness Center.
Dan Schlich, 23, was the overall winner of the 10k run, finishing in 31 minutes, 31 seconds. Schlich, a top-10 finisher in this year's Marine Corps Marathon and the fastest runner on Fort Leonard Wood's Army 10-Miler team, set a pace of 5:05 per mile despite running against high winds with gusts of nearly 40 miles per hour, and temperatures that never reached above the low-30s.
"It was a little windy, which didn't help -- but I like it cold," Schlich said. "It was a pretty good time for me. This is the first 10k I've run in several years. It's a nice change to run a shorter event."
Meike Kuester, 41, was the overall female winner in the 10k race. She crossed the finish line in 41:09.
"I love the trail (we ran)," Kuester said. "In fact, it's my favorite route. I do all my marathon training on that route. It got a little rough with the wind, but I'm used to training in every type of weather."
Ben Mars, 24, was the first runner to cross the finish line in the 5k with a time of 18:14.
"It was a good course -- a little cold, but good. The wind was a killer," said Mars, who had run two previous 5ks on Fort Leonard Wood prior to Saturday's event.
Gabriella Bermudez, 24, was the overall female winner in the 5k, finishing the course in 22:07.
"It had good uphills and good downhills," Bermudez said. "It was good to get out and get into the holiday spirit."
All four of the overall winners received turkeys, as did the winners of each age group. Second-place age-group winners received medals.
Like several of Saturday's winners, Bermudez said she planned on giving her turkey away.
"I'll probably donate it," she said. "For one thing, I don't have anywhere to cook it."
Other runners said they planned to include their turkey in their Thanksgiving celebration.
"I'm making Thanksgiving dinner with my roommate," Schlich said. "We're going to eat it."
Danny Howell, Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation sports specialist, thanked all the runners for enduring the cold conditions, that even included snow at the beginning of the race. He said it was only the second time in his 12 years of coordinating the race that runners had to deal with wintry precipitation.
"Thank you for coming out on a snowy, windy, sleety day," Howell told runners. "Even though the weather was rough, turnout was good."
Age-group winners for the 10k race included:
-- Males 17 and younger: Luke Morrison (38:22) first place; Tyler Chambers (42:46) second place.
-- Females 17 and younger: Alyssa Parker (1:14:18) first place.
-- Males 18 to 24: Josiah McCalla (40:32) first place; Jeffrey Holm (46:34) second place.
-- Females 18 to 24: Stephanie Deriso (43:44) first place; Molly Buis (51:40) second place.
-- Males 25 to 34: Baron Barber (36:16) first place; Shaun Emmett (44:55) second place.
-- Females 25 to 34: Paula Taylor (46:45) first place; Brooke Wynn (47:16) second place.
-- Males 35 to 44: Jeffrey Schultz (42:00) first place; Garrett Kaye (42:10) second place.
-- Females 35 to 44: Mary Magnia (1:09:25); Rose Chapman (1:14:06) second place.
-- Males 45 to 54: Andy Herbst (54:19) first place.
-- Females 45 to 54: Jackie Chen (45:06) first place; Deborah Shelton (59:16) second place.
-- Males 55 and older: Russ Dixon (46:03) first place.
-- Females 55 and older: Shannon Solomon (57:52) first place; Kathy Bohannon (1:00:52) second place.
Age-group winners for the 5k race were:
-- Males 17 and younger: Brandyn Hoover (19:24) first place; Daniel Ray (21:01) second place.
-- Females 17 and younger: Sierra John (27:19) first place; Lauren Demalade (31:16) second place.
-- Males 18 to 24: Christopher Hoffman (19:27) first place; Dylan Miller (19:40) second place.
-- Females 18 to 24: Hope Stremcha (24:18) first place; Sophia Horsch (27:47) second place.
-- Males 25 to 34: Kyle McDermott (21:28) first place; Devin Persaud (26:58) second place.
-- Females 25 to 34: Jennifer Wheeler (25:53) first place; Maggie Voorhees (28:32) second place.
-- Males 35 to 44: Scott Preston (21:39) first place; Chad McCaulley (23:49) second place.
-- Females 35 to 44: Robyn Adams (25:22) first place; Tara Hackett (29:20) second place.
-- Males 45 to 54: Kerry Sechrest (22:50) first place; John Shaw (28:26) second place.
-- Females 45 to 54: Naive Knell (24:01) first place; Christine Bogart (28:36) second place.
-- Males 55 and older: Joe Rapone (25:35) first place; Warner McCoy (43:17) second place.
-- Females 55 and older: Shirley Richardson (44:35) first place.
Complete race results are posted online at split-secondtiming.com.
Related Links:
Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and Fort Leonard Wood Facebook
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