It was a two-man race between Chuck Engle and Mike Thrailkill, and it was decided just in the last ¼ mile.  They took an early lead and kept it until the end of the race.  Defending champ Engle, 34, took the title by a 4 second margin, 17:20 to 17:24 over Thrailkill.  Mike got the Masters award.  Rob Oates finished third in 17:58.  Curtis Kynerd, 56, was the first Grand Masters runner in 21:51.  Yolanda Brown, 30, from Jackson won easily the women’s division in 21:15.  Miriam Allred, the top Masters, was second overall in 23:10 followed by Johna Mae Freiman in 23:25.  Jennifer Tauchen (31:35) claimed the top position in the Grand Masters category.

Samuel Martin won the 5k Walk in 31:50.  Pine Belt Pacer Larry Sykes was second in 32:16, while Nestor Raul Anzola finished third in 33:12.  Larry took home the first-place Grand Masters title, and I got the top Masters award.  The overall female winner was Donna Gonzales in 32:25 followed by Elizabeth Howard who was the top Masters in 33:14.  Third place went to Gwen Jordan in 34:17.  Martha Keenum (37:38) was the Grand Masters winner.  Daniel Mooney won the 1-mile event in 7:05.  Amanda Sharp was the first female (8:12).

Knowing the power and great performances of Samuel, Larry, Donna, and Elizabeth in the race-walk events, my plan was to start strong and stick to them in the first mile.  I always lose contact with the top walkers at the beginning of every single occasion losing 100-200 yards in the first ½ mile and then keeping the same distance behind for the rest of the race.  Well…this time was supposed to be different.  The gun went off, and I was right there in front battling with these guys. “Great! I can beat them”, I thought for a moment!  Then after ½ mile I heard a familiar sound, something hitting the ground.  It was my car’s key!  What should I do? I could keep going in the race and look for it in my way back.  However, I can tell you I don’t see anything small in the street with or without glasses; I suffer some type of “street blindness”.  In addition, I was too far away from Hattiesburg to get another key, so I decided to stop, return and look for it right away.  Fortunately, another walker saw where I dropped it and showed me the point.  I picked it up quickly and went back to the race.  However, those guys were already far away ahead.  I tried to catch up, but it was too late and an impossible mission.  I got in a stable pace and just look at them disappear in the distance.  Thanks to the MTC crew for another well organized race. See Results. © Pijume Diwesi