Avenger and Smoot are swift as Sleipnir in the Viking Run

On Saturday, 7 May 2011, a little more than twelve hours after winning the 24th annual Camilla Gnat Days 5K, Valdosta's Masked Avenger picked up his second road race victory in two days at the Viking Run 5K. The Avenger ran 18:12 in the race that started and finished at Westside Elementary School in Valdosta, Georgia. Lowndes High freshman Tyler Thurman took runner-up ahead of Valdosta's John Blakeslee, 19:29 to 19:46. The morning's fastest master runner was Sean McConnell of Valdosta, fourth overall in 20:22.


Running 20:56, Alice Smoot was next in, the fastest woman as well as the fastest woman master. Smoot crossed the finish line more than 600 meters ahead of the second place woman, Heather Barfield of Hahira, Georgia. Barfield's time for the 3.1-mile course was 24:03.


The name of the race comes from the mascot of Westside Elementary, the Vikings, in case you were wondering why an athletic event was named after a variety of seagoing criminals. This begs the question of why the mascot of a school for young children would be a class of people known to history for looting monasteries.


Top Ten Men

1. 18:12 Masked Avenger (M, 32) Valdosta, GA
2. 19:29 Tyler Thurman (M, 15) Valdosta, GA
3. 19:46 John Blakeslee (M, 32) Valdosta, GA
4. 20:22 Sean McConnell (M, 40) Valdosta, GA
5. 22:17 Jamie Story (M, 40) Valdosta, GA
6. 22:50 Frank Ryan (M, 43) Hahira , GA
7. 22:51 Jonathan Rogers (M, 39) Valdosta, GA
8. 23:02 John Lancianese (M, 15) Valdosta, GA
9. 23:10 Doug Farwell (M, 47) Valdosta, GA
10. 23:44 Paul Brown (M, 38) Valdosta, GA

Top Ten Women

1. 20:56 Alice Smoot (F, 53) Valdosta, GA
2. 24:03 Heather Barfield (F, 34) Hahira , GA
3. 24:48 Heather Bonner (F, 37) Valdosta, GA
4. 25:11 LeAnna Greene (F, 25) Lake Park, GA
5. 26:13 Shelby Joyner (F, 14) Valdosta, GA
6. 26:20 Ginger Taylor (F, 36) Valdosta, GA
7. 26:44 Linda Wood (F, 54) Valdosta, GA
8. 26:51 Alison Thornhill (F, 31) Valdosta, GA
9. 27:50 Emily Bollinger (F, 28) Nashville, GA
10. 28:15 Beth Ford (F, 42) Valdosta, GA

Links:

• Complete results of the 2011 Viking 5K at runningintheusa.com
  http://www.runningintheusa.com/Results/View.aspx?ResultsID=86370
  
  
• Choose your next race from the Trouble Afoot! calendar of events in the region
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1