Tim Gearhart

For The Tribune

 

RUSSELL, Ky. — Oh to be 16 again.

If you were over 16 and male Saturday you didn’t stand a chance in the 37th annual Run By The River, sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of East Greenup County.

The two teens, one from Flatwoods and the other from Salt Lick in Bath County led the way in the 5K and 10K legs of the race, considered Kentucky’s longest continuously operating road races.

With a time of 19:52 Logan McNabb, a junior cross country and track team member at Bath County High School, won the 5K race at a pace nearly 2 minutes ahead of senior runner Lanny Fraley, 64, of Ashland, who was the runner-up.

For McNabb it was his first running victory. “This was a really fast course with a pretty view,” he said.

The pace in the 10K was set by another 16-year-old, Tyler Andre, of Flatwoods. A junior at Russell High School, Andre turned in a time of 39:41.

He, too, participates in track and cross country competition. And, he’s done well at running, winning the recent Midnight 5K in Cannonsburg.

Andre’s friend Jordan Vallance, 17, took second place in the 10K with a time of 41:21. Vallance is a senior at Russell, and lives in Flatwoods. He’s also a track and cross country team member and claimed a victory in the 10K Turkey Trot recently.

The women’s 5K and 10K races were won by Nichole Glasser and Ali Thompson, respectively.

Glasser, 30, of Ashland, was taken by complete surprise when told she had won. “It’s awesome,” she said, “I feel fantastic.”

Thompson, 23, of Franklin Furnace, Ohio, is a graduate student at Wright State University where she’s seeking a masters degree in business administration.

“I’ve just started to get into it (running),” she said, “And this was my first 10K race ever.”

Glasser placed 14th overall in the 5K with a time of 25:08, while Thompson was in 18th place among 10K runners with a time of 48:59.

The 5K and 10K runners-up were Amanda Kelley, 34, of Proctorville (25:38) and Nichole Johnson, 39, of Wheelersburg (49:34).

The race was held under near perfect weather conditions and attracted 224. For the first time, trophies were awarded in group and team competitions.

The first place trophy in the Faith Based Group category went to Bridges Christian Church, while the runner-up trophy went to the Fairview Baptist Church.

The 5K Crew from Ashland won the top trophy in the civic category, while the mother-daughter team of Natalie Grizzle and Terra Dickenson took home a winning trophy and the father-son team of Mark and Rheyce Deboard topped that category..

Winner of the stroller division was Jeremy Ratcliff, 32, of Flatwoods, while Michelle Stringer, 27, of Flatwoods, was runner-up.

The youngest participants were 6-year-old Bonnie Smith of Ashland and Taylor Rene Boggs of Flatwoods, while the oldest runner at 81 was Frank Lumberg of Ashland who kicked off the race by singing the national anthem.

Money raised by Run By The River is used to provide scholarships for Key Club seniors at Russell and Raceland-Worthington high schools, food baskets at Thanksgiving for 50 families, and many other community projects like Shop With a Cop at Christmas and the library’s Summer Reading Program.