“Throughout my running career, and I’ve run just about every race around here, it (the Parkersburg Road Run) was my favorite,” explained George Angelos, proprietor of the Chick-fil-A store on Grand Central Avenue. “This was just my way of giving back to a community that has given me so much.”
More than 250 runners and walkers showed up for the event with a pair of college juniors racing past the field to take home the first place trophies.
Former St. Marys standout Dustin Hall covered the 6.2-mile distance in 34 minutes, 51.69 seconds to easily capture the male title. Beckley’s Daniel McDowell was second in 37:40.76 while the rest of the top five consisted of Marietta’s David Bright (38:27.62), Athens’ David Miller (38:38.11) and Parkersburg’s Dave Williamson (39:14.07).
“I just hammered it from the start,” said Hall, who is running at Wheeling Jesuit University. “I’m coming off an injury which caused me to miss the spring track season so I needed a race to see where I was.”
The St. Marys’ native got what he wanted early as he broke from the starting line beside Memorial Fieldhouse and never looked back, covering the first mile in 5:19.
The women’s title went to former Ritchie County all-stater Jamie Cokeley. A junior at West Virginia University, Cokeley covered the distance in 41 minutes, 28.2 seconds.
“I just wanted to keep racing,” said Cokeley. “The team is at the ECAC championships. I’m hoping that these races will keep me sharp and help me be with the team next year at the championships.”
Cokeley’s time was more than two minutes faster than runner-up Jocelyne Majoy, who crossed the finish line in 43:30.99. The rest of the top five included Leslie Thomas (48:02.21), Belpre’s Misty Roberts (48:47.25) and Vienna’s Brittany Schob (49:04.83).
The masters’ titles went to Miller and Williamstown’s Amy Eddy (50:15.27) while the grandmasters winners were Jeff Cox (42:32.23) and Marietta’s Kathy Shields (57:26.3).
In the walk division, 64-year old Jim Ortt from Kimolton, Ohio, took home the first place prize for the men with a time of 1 hour, 7 minutes and 13.36 seconds while Parkersburg’s Jennifer White was the women’s victor, crossing the Stadium Field finish line in 1:05:44.19.
“With the weather report we had to begin the morning with, this was a great turnout,” said Angelos. “We will look at this race and see where we can make it better next year.”
Article Photos
The start of the race