Wojciechowski wins fifth Virginia Ten-Miler.
Publication: News & Advance (Lynchburg, VA)
Publication Date: 30-SEP-07COPYRIGHT 2007 The News & Advance
Sep. 30--It
was a pair of familiar faces that led the way in the Women's 2007 Virginia Ten
Miler on Saturday.
Tara Wojciechowski, a chemistry teacher from Cary,
N.C., won her fifth Virginia Ten Miler since 2001 by blowing away the field with
a time of 59 minutes and 35 seconds.
"I love this race," Wojciechowski
said. "It is an awesome time out there on the course with everybody cheering.
"There is just so much support. It feels like a real community event."
In addition to this year's Ten Miler, Wojciechowski won the event in
2001, 2002, 2004 (59:02), and 2005 (59:30).
"I like the course, but it
gets harder every year," Wojciechowski. "That last hill, I still get nervous. I
didn't run the time I wanted to. I wanted to break 59 (minutes) but it wasn't
horrible and I have to take into account that I am training for a marathon in
November."
Wojciechowski missed the 2006 race due to a schedule
conflict.
"I would have come last year, I just had a half marathon that
conflicted," Wojciechowski said. "I would love to come back next year.
Hopefully, nothing will conflict next year. Usually this is the first race that
we check the fall dates for."
Wojciechowski finished more than five
minutes ahead of second-place finisher Cat Phillips.
Phillips, a
Lynchburg native and E.C. Glass graduate, is now the cross country coach at
Randolph College and finished the race in 1:04:05.
"It was a perfect day
for the race and I felt good," Phillips said. "I had a 6:25 pace at the halfway
through point and through the finish I had a 6:25 pace. With the hills, your
miles do change, but I felt good and just kept the same pace. This was my
fastest time by a couple of seconds."
Phillips finished second in 2005
(1:06:37) and third in 2004 (1:06:32)
"Me and Peter Sheldon, we coach
together at Randolph College, ran together until mile seven and it helped having
someone to run with," Phillips said. "I had a home-course advantage. I love
these hills and having everyone cheer you on. It just makes it so much easier
when you hear people yelling 'Go Kat. Go Kat.'"
Alice Uhl, of Fincastle,
was third with a time of 1:05:17
Liberty University's assist track and
field coach Heather Zealand finished fourth in a time of 1:08:29 despite being
sick.
"I went to the doctor on Thursday and he gave me some antibiotics
and said 'I am going to get you ready for the Ten Miler,'" Zealand said. "I was
just out here to have fun. I didn't do too bad."
Zealand, the 2002 NCAA
Division I national champion at the Indoor Track and Tield Championship in the
mile (4:38.52) was also a part of the Liberty University team that won
Saturday's open team title. The teams consist of five runners -- one must be a
woman -- and the top three times were used to determine the winner.
"It's great community event and we like to show our support for the
community," Zealand said. There were a lot of supporters to cheer us on and it
was a lot of fun."
Lynchburg's Rebecca Parsons rounded out the top five
with a time of 1:08:55.
"The Chamber of Commerce did a great job of
running the event, but you could tell they weren't really runners,"
Wojciechowski said. "You could tell right from packet pick-up that there was
just more enthusiasm (this year). You could tell that runners were putting on
the event this year."
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Copyright
(c) 2007, The News & Advance, Lynchburg, Va.