Cool weather and fast times delight racers.

Dave Treber (in photo) transplanted to Western Maryland from Montgomery County some years back. He quickly took root and has been instrumental in the continued success of Allegany County races, especially the 27th Annual Great Allegany Race. In his fourth year as Race Director he modestly admitted that he did not get up till nearly 4:00 a.m. to prepare for the race. "Some of the team was up at 1:00 a.m.," he noted. Getting out cones for and mile markers for a 15K point to point race is a real task.

This year the weather was much kinder to racers, less humid and decidedly cooler. Still, as runners boarded the school buses to be driven to the "top" of the race at Mount Savage, the sun had not come up yet. It was not certain that the temperature would make the fifties. The clock in the town square on Baltimore Street at the finish line read 53 degrees more than 75 minutes after the start of the race.

Waiting for the avalanche of runners to fall down the mountainside, the brisk fall air was invigorating. Fortunately, the Mount Savage Kemp Lodge 42 by the start opened its doors so that warmed up muscles would not get too stiff before taking the plunge down the road.

Looking around at the competition is usually seeing a lot of old faces. This race has a lot of recidivism. Still, with the massive Army 10 Mile race scheduled for Sunday, many of the top runners were gone, including Matt Baressi. Off to one side, one older runner noted, "Did you see Ruckert is here?" "Yeah, I saw him," came the resigned reply. Tom Ruckert (56) of Grantsville, MD had handily won the grandmaster last year in 59:14.

Just before the start of the race he was asked, "Are you ready?" He boldly asserted that he was. That was just as his older brother Steve had always done. Steve who turns sixty very soon is now a duathlon specialist.

Ruckert noted that he started out to fast last year, hitting the mile in 5:22. It was hotter and more humid and he slowed a lot by the time he hit town. This year he started conservatively in 5:55 and maintained the whole way to finish tenth overall in 57:56. That was his fastest time for the event. (In photo with James Moreland (right) he celebrates his victory).

(In photo) Jaron Hawkins, last year's winner, would have to be self motivated. He was blasting through the first 5K well below 15:00. His win was decided early, perhaps by the first mile as he tromped his pedal to the medal with a forty second lead at the mile. He coasted through the last 5K in about 16:30, winning in 46:58.

Last year's third and fourth place runners switched places. David Mertz (22) of Cumberland, MD had been third in 51:13, slowing ever so slightly to 51:23. That was all Jeremy Rice (26) of Frostburg, MD needed as he improved to 51:10 from 51:27 to steal the runner-up spot.

This year the race was designated the RRCA Maryland State 15K championship race so state representative Phil Lang was on hand. Mostly, he was here to defend his master title from last year. (In addition, his spouse, Vicki Lang, was inducted into the Bobcat Hall of Fame as part of the Frostburg State homecoming festivities this same weekend.) He had run a terrific race in 53:50. This year he started slow, hitting the mile around 6:10. He picked his way past the speed starters moving up to seventh overall in 55:26. It was not quite enough as Dennis Mickey (43) of Ridgeley, WV returned to the race and took down fourth overall in 52:17. That was one of his slowest times as he often was faster than 50:00 in the past.

For the women, Jen Sober was making her debut. She had won a little 5K in 21:10 a couple of weeks ago. Her competition would be one of the top masters runners in Western Maryland. Last year was one of the few years Paula Bridges (42) of Cumberland (in photo) had not run. Last year's defending masters champion, Maureen Hall was missing this year. That rarely has happened.

Sober bolted out early with Bridges rushing after her. Third place Norah MacPhee (36) of Columbia, MD was not even in the mix. She would finish just ahead of fourth place Bethany Heavner (22) in 1:07:53. Fifth place Kristian Robinette of Fort Ashby, WV at just nine-years-old led her family of eight members in the two races with an inspiring 1:10:05. [Updated from RD Dave Treber: "The West Virginia Robinette family in the 15K and the Cumberland family of Robinettes are not related. Timothy Robinette who finished 6th in the 5K is a cousin to the Cumberland 5K four of Glenn (15K), Anita, daughters Margot and Grace, and Glenn's mom. This is a great family that has helped with the GAR both in the organization and as a sponsor. We let Anita escape from her duties of directing the two-mile walk to run in the 5K. That 15K time by 9-year-old Kristian Robinette is certainly impressive.] This is reminiscent of the massive Christiansen family of Greenville, PA that owns many of the single digit age records in the United States.

At the mile, Bridges was tenaciously holding onto Sober. A few miles later she was still in sight maybe 100 meters ahead. Just past 10K, as runners left Mount Savge road to turn into town, the wheels started to come off. Sober spend up and Bridges drifted back a few places to 1:04:38. Sober sped up to just bust sixty-two minutes by a second for eighteenth overall, winning the state title. Naturally Bridges was the masters winner. The grandmaster winner was Patty Moulden (55) of Mount Savage, MD.

Before the race, Lou Shapiro (67) of Silver Spring, MD (in photo) was warmly dressed in sweats and long pants. Without any body fat, the change from eighty degrees last week in Montgomery County to forty-five in Allegany County made him nervous. Luckily for him, it was overcast and stayed cool the whole way. A novice at the GAR, he asked, "is it faster than Pike's Peek?" The knowing answer was, "You should hit the 10K at just under your Pike's Peek time for this year." Shapiro who had won at that 10K in April in 41:44 was skeptical but he was delighted to learn that it was true, powering to a 1:05:04 age group win.

The 5K race is the baby sister of the main event but this year both races had 132 finishers. The course loops around the town and the elevation changes are minimal. None of that 600 foot drop to make your "ride" end too quick. Ian MacFawn (15) of neighboring Lavale and Luke Smith (14) of Cumberland, MD had a cross town rivalry race, with a photo 18:03 finish. Jim Jordan (53) of Lavale, MD was seven years older than the other three runners in the top four, taking the third spot in 19:03.

Many of the runners in both races were members of the Allegany HS cross-country team. One local woman, who was running the race for the first time, said she had run the course many times. "Today, I am gonna race it."

In the women's race, it was mostly youth as well. Amanda Twigg (17) ran away with it all in 19:50. Amber Leatherman (31) of Fort Ashby, WV was runner-up in 22:35. Then it was nearly all teens until the seventh spot. Lainey Bernstein (55) of Potomac, MD (in photo) was coming off an age group win last week in her only race of the year at the Home Run 5K in 28:09. Taking advantage of the cool weather she won the masters top spot in 26:24 well ahead of her runner-up grandmaster time from the year before.

After the race, there was live music in the town square and buyer's delight Farmer's Market as well as an antique car show with more than a dozen cars mostly from the fifties and sixties. The biggest hit was the coffee from Mark's Daily Grind with doughnuts provided by M&M Bakery right next door. With cool weather hot coffee was perfect.

At the awards, this race has always been generous. There is cash for the top three and the masters. Then the race goes deep in age groups. Each five year age group has a winner. Then it continues to a third place in ten year age groups. This makes for a potential four winners in each ten year age group. For example: The top 50-54 age group winner and the top 55-59 runner gets a 1st place award. Then the next two spots ages 50- 59 gets second and third in the 50-59.

The award is a nice coffee mug with your specific awards printed on the mug. The RRCA titlists also got a plaque for the efforts.

Awards 15K

                         MALE AGE GROUP:  1 - 99
    1     1 Jaron Hawkins       25 FROSTBURG            46:58 
    2     2 Jeremy Rice         26 FROSTBURG            51:10 
    3     3 David Mertz         22 CUMBERLAND           51:23 
                         FEMALE AGE GROUP:  1 - 99
    1    18 Jen Sober           35 MCHENRY            1:01:59 
    2    25 Paula Bridges       42 CUMBERLAND         1:04:38 
    3    32 Norah MacPhee       36 COLUMBIA           1:07:53 
                      MASTER_MALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 99
    1     4 Dennis Mickey       43 RIDGELEY             52:17 
    2     7 Phil Lang           41 COLUMBIA             55:26 
                     MASTER_FEMALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 99
    1    56 Camille Blume       47 CUMBERLAND         1:12:27 
    2    66 Abby Lewis          45 FROSTBURG          1:14:26 
                   Grand_MASTER_MALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 99
    1    10 Tom Ruckert         56 GRANTSVILLE          57:56 
                  Grand_MASTER_FEMALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 99
    1    80 Patty Moulden       55 MT SAVAGE          1:17:24 
                         MALE AGE GROUP:  01 - 19
    1    11 James Carney        19 MT. SAVAGE           59:19 
    2    12 Jack Meekins        17                      59:24 
    3    17 Adam Rossi          15 FROSTBURG          1:01:49 
                        FEMALE AGE GROUP:  01 - 19
    1   115 Sarah Thomas        18 FROSTBURG          1:26:45 
                         MALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 24
    1     6 Dan Dewitt          20 FROSTBURG            53:48 
    2    14 Timothy Smith       23                    1:00:41 
    3    22 Jeffrey Martin      23 CUMBERLAND         1:03:05 
                        FEMALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 24
    1    37 Bethany Heavner     22                    1:08:42 
    2    91 Kristin McCaskey    22                    1:22:13 
    3   128 Tierra Wharton      20 LAVALE             1:36:26 
                         MALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29
    1     5 Tommy Chandler      26 CUMBERLAND           53:47 
    2     8 John Cannon         25 HEDGESVILLE          57:37 
    3     9 Justin Taylor       29 LAVALE               57:52 
                        FEMALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29
    1    51 Teresa Matejovsky   26 BALTIMORE          1:11:23 
    2    63 Rachel Duncan       27 BARTON             1:13:59 
    3    84 Kandi Wertz         27 GERMANTOWN         1:19:52 
                         MALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34
    1    39 Gregory Shrout      31 CRESAPTOWN         1:09:08 
    2    57 Scott Puffenbarger  31 CUMBERLAND         1:12:29 
    3    71 Jeff Kochenderfer   33 MAYSVILLE          1:15:58 
                        FEMALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34
    1    46 Tina MacKlen        34 RIDGELEY           1:10:30 
    2    48 Lori Mielecki       31 MORGANTOWN         1:11:09 
    3    60 Andrea Velandia     31 CUMBERLAND         1:13:05 
                         MALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39
    1    15 John Snodgrass      39                    1:01:02 
    2    28 Eric Joe            39 RIDGELEY           1:06:31 
    3    50 Sean Sober          39 MCHENRY            1:11:20 
                        FEMALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39
    1    62 Diann Cosgrove      39 BUFFALO MILLS      1:13:58 
    2    73 Kathy Shumaker      39                    1:16:10 
    3    78 Tina Mowery         37 ELLERSLIE          1:17:12 
                         MALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44
    1    13 Robert Smith        42 CUMBERLAND           59:43 
    2    27 Steve Green         41 MCHENRY            1:06:27 
    3    29 Glenn Robinette     43 CUMBERLAND         1:07:24 
                        FEMALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44
    1    79 Jane Rossi          43 FROSTBURG          1:17:12 
    2    89 Pamela Robinette    41 FORT ASHBY         1:21:39 
    3   116 Amy Klemm           41 LAVALE             1:26:49 
                         MALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49
    1    16 Leslie Mull         45 CUMBERLAND         1:01:31 
    2    19 Scott Winter        46                    1:02:08 
    3    20 Randall Stroup      49 LAVALE             1:02:27 
                        FEMALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49
    1    83 Marie Miller        45 MT. SAVAGE         1:19:43 
    2   118 Cindy Whiteman      45 RAWLINGS           1:28:01 
    3   131 Diane Beaulieu      46 CUMBERLAND         1:42:57 
                         MALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54
    1    35 Bob Stephens        50 MT LAKE PARK       1:08:26 
    2    38 Darrell Hull        52 CLEAR SPRING       1:09:01 
    3    42 Tab Wharton         50 LAVALE             1:09:30 
                        FEMALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54
    1    99 Brenda Wharton      50 LAVALE             1:23:48 
    2   114 Amy Kiddy           53 LONACONING         1:26:43 
                         MALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59
    1    23 James Moreland      56 GAITHERSBURG       1:03:23 
    2    24 Michael Kozier      56 OAKLAND            1:03:52 
    3    87 Ronald Miller       56 CUMBERLAND         1:21:26 
                        FEMALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59
    1    98 Joyce Michaels      57 WILEY FORD         1:23:38 
    2   123 Valerie Van Hollen  55 CUMBERLAND         1:32:33 
                         MALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64
    1    31 Bob Baker           62 MORGANTOWN         1:07:43 
    2    55 Ron Wolak           62 HAGERSTOWN         1:12:17 
    3    76 Donald Reese        63 WINDBER            1:16:58 
                        FEMALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64

                         MALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69
    1    26 Lou Shapiro         67                    1:05:06 
                        FEMALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69

                         MALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 99

                        FEMALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 99

Awards 5K

                          MALE AGE GROUP:  1 - 99
    1     1 Ian MacFawn         15   18:03 
    2     2 Luke Smith          14   18:03 
    3     3 Jim Jordan          53   19:02 
                         FEMALE AGE GROUP:  1 - 99
    1     7 Amanda Twigg        17   19:50 
    2    29 Amber Leatherman    31   22:35 
    3    48 Haley Meeks         16   24:08 
                         MALE AGE GROUP:  01 - 19
    1     4 Colby Smith         17   19:21 
    2     6 Timothy Robinette   15   19:49 
    3     8 Alexander Evertz    17   20:36 
                        FEMALE AGE GROUP:  01 - 19
    1    58 Brianne Zimmerman   17   25:49 
    2    67 Brooke Puffenbarger 11   26:33 
    3    96 Chloe Mantheiy      08   28:55 
                         MALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 24
    1    12 Rob Wise            23   21:10 
                        FEMALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 24
    1    59 Megan Rohrbaugh     23   25:59 
                         MALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29
    1    38 Chester Smith       27   23:44 
                        FEMALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29
    1    75 Lindsay Hauer       28   26:54 
                         MALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 29
    1    12 Rob Wise            23   21:10 
    2    16 Chris Morgan        21   21:51 
    3    17 Jimmy Kucharczyk    20   21:52 
    4    38 Chester Smith       27   23:44 
                        FEMALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 29
    1    59 Megan Rohrbaugh     23   25:59 
    2    75 Lindsay Hauer       28   26:54 
    3    85 Cassandra McCrae    27   28:21 
    4    89 Crystal Yoder       23   28:26 
                          MALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34
    1    13 Kevin Walizer       30   21:14 
                        FEMALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34
    1    91 Allison Hedrick     30   28:45 
                         MALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39
    1    10 Andrew Ferguson     37   20:45 
                        FEMALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39
    1    60 Connie Milligan     39   26:00 
                         MALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 39
    1    10 Andrew Ferguson     37   20:45 
    2    13 Kevin Walizer       30   21:14 
    3    42 Robert Hardt        39   23:52 
    4    57 Leo Edmiston-Cyr    36   25:48 
                        FEMALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 39
    1    60 Connie Milligan     39   26:00 
    2    79 Julie Crabtree      37   27:05 
    3    91 Allison Hedrick     30   28:45 
    4   105 Theresa Geer        36   29:27 
                         MALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44
    1     5 Tom Clark           41   19:41 
                        FEMALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44
    1   103 Margi Barncord      40   29:18 
                         MALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49
    1    51 Tom Farrell         47   24:56 
                        FEMALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49
    1   101 Laura Winner        46   29:03 
                         MALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 49
    1     5 Tom Clark           41   19:41 
    2    26 Richard Malcolm     40   22:30 
    3    51 Tom Farrell         47   24:56 
    4    56 Michael McArchini   47   25:37 
                        FEMALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 49
    1   101 Laura Winner        46   29:03 
    2   103 Margi Barncord      40   29:18 
    3   107 Betsy Geiger        49   29:54 
    4   111 Dawne Lindsey       43   31:00 
                         MALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54
    1    18 Ben Foy             50   22:02 
                        FEMALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54
    1    77 Mary Moran          54   26:59 
                         MALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59
    1    35 Randy Whittington   55   23:40 
                        FEMALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59
    1    65 Lainey Bernstein    55   26:24 
                         MALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 59
    1    18 Ben Foy             50   22:02 
    2    35 Randy Whittington   55   23:40 
                        FEMALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 59
    1    65 Lainey Bernstein    55   26:24 
    2    77 Mary Moran          54   26:59 
                         MALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64
    1    78 Mark Nutter         64   27:03 
                        FEMALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64
                         MALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69
    1    44 Marvin Bridges      68   23:56 
                        FEMALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69
                         MALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 69
    1    44 Marvin Bridges      68   23:56 
    2    78 Mark Nutter         64   27:03 
                        FEMALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 69
                         MALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 99
                        FEMALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 99
    1   132 Jackie Robinette    73   45:58 

Nut Hall of Lavale, MD has time on his mind. He produced the race results for the event, making them available race day.

Full Race Day Results