By Arnold Utterback
Saturday morning in October began with a low hanging mist over the fresh cut grass at Ancil Hoffman Park. By 9:00 the mist was gone and a whistle blew to start the women’s race. SRA Elite dominated the open women’s field, lead by former Sac State star Lea Wallace covering the 6k course in 20:37. First master’s woman was Jennifer Jackson of GVH in 22:24. Co-race directors Carla Kehoe and Allison Orofino ran as River City Rebels, both women are also members of Golden West Athletics Club which hosted the event. Leading the Chip women was Gina Adams 50 in 25:52 followed by Chip Mary Cunningham 27 in 26:06. The women’s race had 88 runners in all.
Men’s master race was won by Jamie Harris in 19:20. Former Dunger Ed Randolph 43 now representing West Valley TC was 5th master in 20:20. Senior Chip John Feeney 53 finished in 25:23 followed by Bob Fredenberg 60 in 26:26, Arnold Utterback 66 in 26:32, Joel Contreras 68 in 29:52, Joe Domagalski 61 in 30:52, and Dennis Scott 64 in 36:18 to take the 100th spot in the men’s masters race.
In the Men’s Open race SRA Elite’s Kevin Pool was first in 17:44 to lead the group of 46 racers, the last race of the morning and the smallest of the 3 races.
Ancil Hoffman was race #10 in the 12 race PA-USATF X-Country GranPrix Series. The next event is the John Lawson Tamalpa Challenge on November 4th at the Marin Headlands. And the Championship will be held in Golden Gate Park on November 18th in San Francisco.
About Laura Matz