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| 15-years old runner Matthew Cameron
won the "Courthouse Celebration 5K Run" event on Saturday, June 19, 2004 in Jackson, MS. Cameron was joined Saturday morning by 196 other runners and walkers to complete the ninth race of the Mississippi Grand Prix Circuit in a sunny, seventy-eight degree weather. Temperatures and humidity were "comfortable", and the runners were faced with only light winds as they made their way around the Northeast Courthouse Racquet Club neighborhood along a pretty flat course. Cameron finished in 17:14, six seconds ahead of runner-up Rob Oates (17:20). Third place went to Jim George, the first Master's finisher, who battled to the end with Oates and stopped the chronometer in 17:24. Tad Jurgens obtained the Grand Master title with a time of 20:19. In the female field, Kristi Walski controlled the race from the beginning setting the winning time in 20:00. Second place was for Temple Waddell who finished in 21:38. Placing third was Yolanda Brown, who ran consistently but didn't quite have the energy at the end to catch Waddell, crossing the finish line in 21:46. Melinda DePoyster was the first female master overall (22:51), and Deborah Grubbs was the Grand Master winner in 25:20. The brilliant winner of the 5K walk race for this year's edition (and always!) was Debbiee Cheney with a time of 26:51, followed by Amy Macon who stopped the chronometer in 28:56. In third place was Tina Branan setting her time in 30:24. With the same time arrived Bennett Randman, the top male race walker. Two hardy Pine Belt Pacers, Jerry Worley and Nestor Raul Anzola braved the heat and humidity and made a strong showing, led by Jerry, who finished nineteenth overall in 20:13. As for my own performance, I was lazy and did not run, just walked. The official results put me in 16th place among the walkers at 33:37 and first in the 30-39 years category. The walk was quite peaceful --- no adrenaline rush, just a pleasant ramble in the roadway. My plan (if it deserves the dignity of that term) was to begin slowly, conserve energy, loosen up along the way, and finish strong. But it was a comfortable walk, and I felt fine. After the race, bananas, watermelon, apples, water, and gatorade hit the spot, and an open house at the Courthouse facility followed. Overall, I recommend this race to anyone within shouting distance. Congratulations to the organizers for putting on an excellent event. © Pijume Diwesi |
