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NEWS
Barboursville 8K ends 3-race series
Runners begin the final race in the series of winter races by the West Virginia 5K Championship Race Committee on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2010, at Barboursville Community Park.
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BARBOURSVILLE -- He wasn't running to win. He was just running to run.
And at 64 years of age and in the bitter temperatures at Barboursville Park on Sunday afternoon, it was quite a feat in itself.
John Peterson of Huntington joined about 140 runners who braved the cold Sunday for the third and final race in a three-race series of the West Virginia 5K Championship Race Committee.
"I already got the T-shirt, I could just go home," Peterson said as he stood in the biting wind before the race. But he did the other two races and wanted to finish the series.
Sponsored by The Herald-Dispatch and United Way of the River Cities, the races were organized to give runners a chance to build their stamina. They were intended to build from a 5K to a 10K, but bad weather caused some changes.
The first was the Jingle Bell Run, a 5K race in downtown Huntington. The second was intended to be a 5-mile run, but was scaled back to a 5K race at Barboursville Park. Sunday's race was an 8K instead of a 10K.
There was snow on the ground for all three races, but they drew a crowd, which on Sunday included a group of runners out of Charleston who were training for the Boston Marathon. They participated as a training opportunity, said race organizer Pat Riley.
"It's nice that we have all these tough runners with the wind in their faces," Riley said.
Jason Pyles, 28, finished well ahead of the pack Sunday with a time of 25:49. Second place was Jacob Burcham, 14. In third place was John Davis, 25; in fourth place was Robert Smith, 31; and in fifth place was Patrick Jividen, 17.
The races were about giving Tri-Staters of all fitness levels more opportunities to incorporate running into their lifestyle, he said. A race with a set date is a great motivator.
"I'm here at the park all the time, and I have seen people here running and getting motivated," Riley said.
Runner Sandra Lunsford, a 41-year-old from Ashland, tromped through the slush and mud Sunday. She started running about a year ago and goes out on Sundays with a group of runners over 35.
She, too, has participated in all three races -- "a great accomplishment," she said.
