Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 9, 1993 TAG: 9305090098
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRIS BACHELDER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
She registered early Saturday morning.
And that's when she stopped dragging her heels. After a last-minute decision to run her third race in three weeks, Given dashed to a personal-best time and a first-place finish among 148 women runners in the sixth annual race.
The 40-year-old Roanoker finished 38th overall in 24 minutes, 39 seconds on a hot, sunny morning. Given is a year older and six seconds faster than Hetty Hoyt, who placed second among women at 24:45.
"I ran a 5K last weekend in Vinton and a 10K two weeks ago in Norfolk," Given said. "I hadn't planned to do this, but I thought it was a good chance to see how much I had.
"I'm pretty pleased. There's more pressure in a local race, but it's so nice to win."
In the men's division, Blacksburg's Brian Walter, another late entry, led the entire way and finished first overall in 19:40. Roanoke newcomer Eric Sorensen took second in 20:28 and Blacksburg's Mike Pope placed third in 20:40.
Walter, a 1990 Virginia Tech graduate and former Hokie runner, entered "just the other day" to join his dad and his girlfriend in a field of about 550. Walter still lives and trains in Blacksburg, where he has been taking it easy after a busy spring racing schedule and before training for a fall marathon.
"This was just to have fun," said Walter, 26. "But I wasn't just fooling around. I did run hard. It was a good workout type of race."
Sorensen, 23, graduated from the University of Virginia last spring and took a job in Roanoke in August. The former Cavalier cross country runner has been trying to wrap triathlon training around his 40-hour work weeks.
"I'm pleased that I can still run as fast as I did," Sorensen said. "That bike has been killing me."
Sorensen said he never challenged Walter.
"We started too fast for me, and I knew [Walter] was either a pretender or real good," Sorensen said. "I know him, but I didn't recognize him with his hat and glasses.
"I asked the guy beside me who it was and he said, `That's Brian Walter.' I said, `Oh, crap.' "
Given, who led Hoyt the whole way, finished second overall at the Dogwood Festival 5K in Vinton and second in masters competition in a Norfolk 10K the past two weekends.
The field was thrown wide open by the conspicuous absence of Steve and Lori Taylor, the wedded Virginia Tech coaches who have swept the race the past two years. Steve Taylor ran a marathon last weekend in Pittsburgh.
In the fourth annual Media Challenge, the Roanoke Times & World-News team knocked off three-time winner WSLS-TV, which finished second. Kurt Rheinheimer of the Roanoker Magazine repeated as the top media men's runner (25:09); Cecily Tynan of WDBJ-TV placed first among women (26:56) and also won her age group (20-24).
Roanoke's Artie Levin was recognized as the race's oldest - that is, most advanced - runner. Levin, 79, finished in 52:33.
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