|
|
|
The 2004 Main Street Festival 5K Run, sponsored by the Laurel Fire Department's Christmas Toys Program, was held on Saturday, November 6 with a nice group of runners. After a few instructions from race director Kerry Holifield, Kerry shot the starting gun, and we were off. Several young men from the Youth Challenge program jumped out into an early lead, but Jim Coll, President of the Pine Belt Pacers, soon took over and beat out Jerry Worley to take the win with a time of 19:36. Jerry Worley was the Masters winner, and Phillip Wedgeworth was the Grand Masters male. Shelly Oestriecher was the female winner with Martha Ray Sartor taking Masters honors, and Shannon Holder was the Grand Masters female. Phillip Sullivan (20:47), Clayton McGuffee (22:01), and Kenneth Steward (23:21) were the 15-19 age group winners. Jared Millet was the sole 20-24 year old, finishing at 24:26. Mike Boyd was the only 30-34 year old, finishing at 22:51. Mike Barnes (20:52), Terry Ingram (23:23), and Tony Mozingo (23:40) were the 40-44 age winners. David Dill (25:20) was the only 45-49 year old. Caley Hawkins was the only 50-54 age runner, finishing at 25:51. Kent Headricks held down the 55-59 group with a 29:59. Dennis Wargel (28:47) and Mobby Overstreet (31:46) were the over 60 runners. For the females Katie Britt (30:24, Khadizha Peters (30:59), and Lakeshia Harrison (36:38) were the 15-19 age group winners. Trina Larremore (32:16) was the only 20-24 female. Beverly Stevens (29:52) was the only 30-34 female. Tammy Fowler (34:21) and Sidney Crumbley (38:54) took the 40-44 age group. This race was a simple out and back with several average size hills. Much thanks to the LFD and everyone else who worked hard to put this race on. © Phillip Wedgeworth
So I decided to drag my rear end out of bed and drive to the bustling city of Laurel Saturday, hoping to continue my comeback to excellence in the 5K for Tots. I thought to myself, “So Ironman, who could possibly be there to challenge you?” I left the Hub City in a determined mood, knowing that the worst threat to me was world famous Phillip Wedgeworth. The city of Laurel, a place I had only visited a few times, actually attracted one of my heroes, none other than the great country music singer, T.G. Shepard. (For those of you who haven’t followed my career, I was a disc jockey at WBKH in Hattiesburg in the early ‘80’s, and T.G.’s records were huge…). He was there for a concert at 1:00 that afternoon, in connection with the Main Street Festival there. Bottom line to all my fans is this; I spent the half hour before the race on T.G.’s tour bus, hanging out instead of warming up for the race. That’s the only explanation for coming in after the others… Let me ask this; What would you have done? Any man who could make a NO.1 hit out of a song called “War Is Hell On The Homefront, Too”, well, he’s got my heart… “T” and I reminisced and hung out for awhile. So I ended up thinking that the course was beautiful during the race, one of the best I’ve ever seen. The city should let folks know that there’s more there than 16th Ave. and Sawmill Square Mall. The live oaks were gorgeous, and I saw a part of town that I didn’t know about. It’s a great city, and I even got to meet a man named Steve, who told me when I was bragging about knowing Elmer and Dr. Pendergrass, that he used to smoke both of them in the early days. © Tony Mozingo
|
