ST. THERESE FALL FESTIVAL 5K
On a cool and cloudy Saturday morning on 9/11, 110 eager runners and walkers embarked on the 2nd annual St. Therese 5K (3.1 miles). Due to last year’s conflict with the Lake Shores garage sale, this year was the first on the ‘real’ and certified course through Lakewood Park, Stone Lake, and Lake Shores West. As expected, it proved to be a fast course as both the men and women overall winners set new event records.
Jodie Patrick, 32 and from Fort Wayne, was the overall women’s winner in a sizzling time of 22:00. Although just training specifically for her first ever marathon (Indy Monumental on November 6), Jodie managed to set a PR (personal record) for the 5K. Her intention was to simply use this race as a tune-up and benchmark to see how her marathon training has progressed, but everything fell into place on her way to victory. Last year’s women’s winner, Kely Sandels, also 32 and from Waynedale, took 2nd place in 23:51 – a solid performance considering she was on crutches earlier this year. Rachel Fueling, 24 and from Decatur, took 3rd in 26:18.
Bryan Hazel, 24 and from Fort Wayne, galloped his way to the overall men’s victory in 16:14 – 33 seconds ahead of runner-up Doug Alles, 23 and from Fort Wayne. Bryan’s time of 16:14 was a new event record.
The story of the day had to be the 3rd place finisher in the ‘men’s overall’ category – 12-year-old Brayden Law of Fort Wayne. Yes, that is correct…12 years old! Brayden, a 7th grader at Woodside Middle School, poured it on at the end to come in just a hair under 17 minutes (16:59 to be exact). Race officials, who had not previously witnessed his performances, were a little surprised to see young Brayden flying around the last corner. This was just another race for Brayden as he routinely outruns competition many years his senior.
It wasn’t a gut-wrenching run for everyone, however. Many walkers enjoyed the scenic course while making it through the 5K just before the rain began. The awards ceremony commenced under the festival tent just after the last walker finished. If participants weren’t fortunate to receive one of the awards or one of the five door prizes, everyone still enjoyed complimentary festival tickets and took home a race t-shirt. Fun for all. See you in 2011!
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