ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, June 2, 1996 TAG: 9606030139
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
WINNERS OF THE WOMEN'S RACES have time and experience on their side in Saturday's running of the American Festival Classic.
There wouldn't be a Masters Division if men and women in their 40s were supposed to compete with runners half their age.
Beth Howell and Nancy Ferris wouldn't necessarily disagree, but every time they looked Saturday, there was nobody in front of them.
Howell and Ferris, both 40 and each the mother of two girls, were pleased with their times but somewhat surprised with their victories in the American Festival Classic.
Ferris, who captured the women's 5-kilometer race, was one of three first-time Festival winners along with George Probst in the men's 10K and schoolboy Justin Mosby in the men's 5K.
Howell could not remember how many Festival victories she has had, although her first was in 1982, when she was Beth Dillinger. Her most recent victory was in 1991, not long after the birth of her first daughter, Ella.
``A year ago right now, I was standing on the sideline with a ruptured disc,'' said Howell, whose winning time Saturday of 40:28 was only 33 seconds slower than she ran in 1982. ``I was watching my husband run and I could hardly walk.
``I never dreamed that I would come back like this. I didn't know at that point if I would ever run again.''
Howell did not run competitively until she moved to Blacksburg in 1979. She ran her first marathon in 1981 and twice participated in the Olympic Trials, finishing 42nd in 1988 in a field of close to 300 runners.
Howell underwent a CAT scan in March 1995 that revealed she had a ruptured disc, but she was hopeful the condition would improve through rest.
``I tried to let it heal itself,'' she said, ``but it got worse and worse and worse. When they took me to surgery, it was practically an emergency. It was that bad.''
Howell had an operation in June and was running again by September. Already this spring, she had won three races, including the Virginia Western 5K, and captured her age group in the Charlottesville 10-miler.
``Since I've turned 40, I really don't expect to win any more,'' Howell said, ``but last week, I won in Richmond [the Run for Sight 5K] and the woman who finished second was 41. It's sad that there aren't more younger runners coming up. Maybe they had schedule conflicts.''
Howell will run a 5K when that's her only option, but she considers herself a ``distance runner'' and will always run the longer event if given a choice.
Ferris, like Howell, did not run in college or high school. She traditionally has run the 10K in Roanoke and this spring ran the Boston Marathon for the first time, but she elected to run the 5K on Saturday.
Her time of 19:09 easily eclipsed the 19:30 she ran two years ago in Roanoke.
``Usually, it's hot here, with very high humidity,'' said Ferris, who lives in Forest. ``This was the best it's been. Running becomes such a mental game. You have your good days and your bad days and today everything just seemed to click.''
The temperature was in the mid- to high-50s when the race started at 8 a.m., and, if there were no records set, that had more to do with the competition than the conditions.
``It's the best I've seen it here,'' said Probst, a 22-year-old Virginia Tech graduate who ran the 10,000 meters for the Hokies before completing his eligibility this spring.
Probst took a 50-yard lead in the men's 10K by the time the runners got to the bridge parallel to Victory Stadium - approximately one-fourth of the way through the race - and finished in 31:41. His former cross-country coach at Tech, Steve Taylor, ran 31:28 to win the 10K last year.
``I didn't think about my chances,'' said Probst. ``I just finished up with John Hawthorne [at Tech] and I would have thought he had a better chance than I did.''
Mosby, 18, was expecting a large contingent of Virginia Tech runners in the 5K, but, like the other three winners, he quickly took the lead and was hardly challenged. It was an early graduation present for the Christiansburg High School senior, who is headed to Radford University in the fall.
Mosby's time of 15:53 was well down from his clocking last year, 16:34. He finished third in the Group AA cross-country meet in the fall and was second last week at the Group AA track meet, where runner-up Christiansburg finished three points behind Staunton River.
``I think we were all pretty upset to come that close,'' said Mosby, who had cut his workouts from 50 miles to 35 or 30 in the week since the state meet. ``I'm a lot more excited now. With all the people running and watching, this is just great.''
Just imagine how he'll feel when he's 40.
LENGTH: Medium: 100 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY/Staff. 1. Runners in the American Festivalby CNBClassic 5K and 10K runs make their way up Jefferson Street early
Saturday morning. 2. George Probst, a 22-year-old Virginia Tech
graduate, nears the finish line of the 10K run. Probst completed the
course in 31 minutes, 41 seconds. 3. Beth Howell, a 40-year-old
mother of two, won her first Festival race in 1982. She added
another to her win column Saturday with a victory in the 10K. color.
4. Runners make their way down Jefferson Street during the American
Festival Classic 5K and 10K runs Saturday morning. The temperature
was in the mid-50s when the races began at 8.