Saturday, March 12, 2011

No 'Luck of the Irish' needed for either Kaus or Rosen at Scurry

Starting from Killearn United Methodist Church, Peter Kaus looped through the hills of Killearn Estates, returning to the finish line ahead of more than 600 other runners to win the Shamrock Scurry 5K on Saturday, 12 March 2011. Kaus ran the course in 18:14, just ahead of runner-up and top master Mike Martinez, who ran 18:20. Sheryl Rosen was the first woman finisher, placing eighth overall in 19:35, comfortably ahead of the women's runner up, Kelly Stevens (11th, 19:59). Mary Anne Grayson of Thomasville was the third woman and first woman master in the race, placing 21st overall in 21:13.


It was a brisk spring morning, clear with temperatures in the 40s, when the runners set out just past 8:30am. Stephen Robbins of Cairo, Georgia was the early leader as the field headed down Shamrock Drive, but this was a 5,000 meter race, not a 500 meter race, and Peter Kaus was already leading the pursuit. Kaus overtook Robbins, as did Mike Martinez and Tony Guillen. After a mostly downhill first half, the course turned to start climbing back toward the church. After three kilometers Kaus led the race, with Martinez, Guillen, and Robbins a few seconds back. Over the next kilometer Kaus maintained his lead, while Martinez shed Robbins and then Guillen. Kaus and Martinez continued to move away from the rest of the field over the final kilometer, but Martinez couldn't make any ground on Kaus. They finished Kaus and then Martinez, 18:14 and 18:20. Guillen had given up 20 seconds to finish in 18:40, and Robbins was another eight seconds back in 18:48.


Kelly Stevens led the women onto Shamrock, followed by Sheryl Rosen, Cara Lavier, and Mary Anne Grayson in that order. Stevens and Rosen opened a gap on the other women, and Rosen took over the lead during the second kilometer. After that it was Rosen's race all the way to the finish line. Stevens held second position, ending up nearly 300 meters ahead of Grayson, who had taken over third from Lavier. Lavier finished the race as the fourth woman, 30th overall in 22:02. Rosen's time was almost a minute and a half faster than Anna Busby's winning time at the 2010 Shamrock Scurry 5K, 21:03. Kelly Stevens's second-place 19:59 was also fast enough to have won last year's Scurry. Mary Anne Grayson, who ran in the 2010 Scurry, fell four seconds short of her time last year, but still managed to repeat as the top woman master in the race.


The race was the second Shamrock Scurry 5K since the race returned to Killearn United Methodist in 2010. Last year's revived Scurry had short of 500 finishers; the 600-plus finishers at the 2011 race was a significant increase. The 5K runners were joined by well over 300 in the one-mile fun run, held before the 5K at 8:00am. If the Shamrock Scurry keeps growing this way, KUMC is going to have to fry up a lot more pancakes and sausage for the post-race breakfast.


Top Ten Men
  1. Peter Kaus (M, 26) 18:14
  2. Mike Martinez (M, ) 18:20
  3. Tony Guillen (M, ) 18:40
  4. Stephen Robbins (M, ) 18:48
  5. Cory Gerbrandt (M, ) 18:51
  6. James Thompson (M, ) 19:23
  7. Chris Holland (M, ) 19:34
  8. Felton Wright (M, ) 19:55
  9. Jeff Armstrong (M, ) 19:56
  10. A. J. Rhodes (M, )

Top Ten Women
  1. Sheryl Rosen (F, 26) 19:35
  2. Kelly Stevens (F, ) 19:59
  3. Mary Anne Grayson (F, ) 21:13
  4. Cara Lavier (F, ) 22:02
  5. Brook Pace (F, ) 22:10
  6. Ashley Daily (F, ) 22:11
  7. Paula O'Neill (F, 49) 22:38
  8. Beth Culley (F, 46) 22:46
  9. Caroline Hudson (F, ) 23:03
  10. Mary Vancore (F, 47) 23:08



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Posted by Herb Wills at 11:13 AM
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