Typical Aroostook County weather greeted runners Saturday morning as heavy snow began to fall one hour prior to the start of the 28th annual University of Maine at Presque Isle Spring Runoff 5 km Road Race. 78 runners and walkers braved slick and wet conditions, which likely prevented the men’s course record from being challenged. Men’s race winner P.J. Gorneault, of Caribou, completed the course in 16:42 en route to besting his nearest challenger by 1:28 and only 37 seconds off the record of 16:05. Favorite Angela Ewings did not disappoint running a 22:00 for the women’s victory.
Contributed photo/Laurie SheehanP.J. Gorneault leads the pack of runners taking part in Saturday’s snowy 5 km Runoff Race.
The slippery conditions potentially slowed the pace by as much as a minute or more for all competitors vying for age group wins as well as points in the County Challenge Series, now in it’s 26th season. Runoff age group winners were Mackenzie Pinnette 23:40 (14 years and under), Hannah Saunders 23:31and Spencer McElwain 18:33 (15 to 19), Tracy Guerrette 22:45 and Jeff Sprague 18:25 (19 to 29), Tess Miner-Farra 25:41 and Thomas Beckum 18:10 (30 to 39), Linda Mountain 23:07 and Jeff Ashby 20:00 (40 to 49), Connie McLellan 24:50 and Steve Emery 23:24 (50 to 59), Larry Tonzi 23:17 (60 to 69) and Art Thompson 40:52 (70 years and over). The men’s walker division was won by Paul Lamoreau (53:20) with Jen Albertson and Dee Hawksley each finishing at 55:40 for the women.
Remaining general results follow: 5, Alfred Hanscom 18:38; 6, John Lyons 18:46, 7, Corey Park 19:49, 8, Jonathan Kelley 19:51, 9, Emerson Wright 19:59, 11, Christian Sleeper 20:11, 12, Bradley Burlock 20:33, 13, Kurt Whisler 20:44, 14, Timothy Freme 20:54, 15, Jason Johnson 21:09; 16, Aaron Schmersal 21:20; 18, Von Perry 22:01; 19, D.J. Flynn 22:10; 20, Paul Long 22:14, Caribou High School relay (Meagan Bossie, Dayna Michaud and Mary Jo Sheehan) 22:18; 22, Jordan Powers 22:18; 24, Mark Condon 22:46; 25, Joseph St. Peter 22:48; 26, Rob Langner 22:50; 29, Chris Rines 23:18; 30, Mike Waugh 23:23; 32, Patrick Baker 23:26; 33, Row Pelletier 23:27; and 36, Dave Macek 24:01.
Also, 37, Megan Korhonen 24:17; 38, Leo Kashian 24:25; 39, Isaac Raymond 24:28; 41, Frances Prest 25:11; 42, Brent Jepson 25:26; 43, Roy Alden 25:27; 44, Hallie Bartlett 25:37; 46, Geoff Snow 25:50; 47, Ed Therning 26:36; 48, Linda Gover 26:53; 49, Jerica Fox 27:04; 50, Chanan Bond 27:08; 51, Waldo Libby 27:20; 52, Darren Lawrence 27;41; 53, Herm Condon 27:47; 54, Candace Lyons 27:54; 55, Brent Baily 28:04; 56, Michael LeClair 28:07; 57, Shawn Dumais 28:13; 58, David Goodrich 28:15; 59, Don Zillman 28:57; 60, Laura Collins 29:07; 61, Karyn King 29:08; 62, David Raymond 29:17; 63, John Zaborney 29:20; 64, Catherine Packard 29:44; 65, Barb Bartlett 30:06; 66, Lore Bates 30:09; 67, Jorelyn Davis 30:46; 68, Sherry Cowett 32:26; 69, Brandy Dumais 33:19; 70 Mindy Sullivan 38:22; 71, Jill Ireland 38:25; and 72, Kathy Kilfoil 38:39.
Ewings and Gorneault gained 11 points each toward their series totals by virtue of picking up the 10 first place points as well as the individual tally for participating in the race. With two series races completed (Wild Katahdinn Trust Snow Run from Feb. 2 in Houlton and Saturday’s race at UMPI) six others remain: the Nurse’s Run 5 km and 10 km in Fort Kent on May 3, the S.W. Collins 5 km in Caribou on June 22, the Musterd Mile in Caribou on July 12, the Potato Blossom 5-Miler in Fort Fairfield on July 19, the Island Falls Summer Fest 5 km on August 2 and the Caribou Labor Day 8 km Road Race in Caribou on September 1.
Race results and running news may be accessed at www.aroostookmusterds.com.
