The twenty-sixth annual Pass to Bay 10K was held on Saturday, December 15 with about 220 people participating in all events. I had communicated earlier in the week with one Gulf Coast Running Club member who told me to expect cold or rain or both, but we had very hot, humid conditions. I won't call that club member by name, but he does work on teeth for a living and told me I needed a root canal when I complained about foot pain. We all lined up on Second Street for the start on the race in what was once Beautiful Downtown Pass Christian. Leonard gave us a few instructions which included what to do in case we got caught by a train. That has happened once during this race. Kyle Lewis took the early lead and had no problems cruising to an easy victory with an excellent time of 33.04, which was almost three minutes ahead of the second place finisher. Leah McBride was the first female finisher with a time of 39.34. Pete Prichard and Kristin Vergunst were the Masters winners, and Bill Gasparrini and Nancy Phillips took Grand Masters honors. The Pine Belt was represented by Nestor Anzola, Kily Garcia, and Phillip Wedgeworth. Phillip won his age group. Kelli and Nestor ran well. This was the first Pass to Bay over the new bridge. The previous course had been completely flat, but with the new bridge we do have a bit of elevation. After the race we enjoyed Subway sandwiches, cookies, fruit, soft drinks, beer, and water. Due to the heat, we ran out of fluids long before we ran out of food. This was another of the excellent races that the Gulf Coast Running Club puts on. Thanks to everyone for the hard work. Complete results are linked. © Phillip Wedgeworth

On Saturday Kily Apocalipto Garcia and I went down to the coast to participate in the Pass to Bay Christmas 10K run. The run starts at the War Memorial Park at Pass Christian and ends in Bay St Louis. This was the first time after Katrina that the race came across the the new Bay St. Louis Bridge. We ran 3.2 flat miles in the streets of the first city, then onto the right lane on Hwy 90, all the way across the new highrise bridge for 2 more miles (everyone had a lot of fun in the big incline at the start and the bigger incline in the middle!) and finally got in Bay St Louis for the last mile! We had the opportunity to run before the cold front hit Mississippi, so the temperatures were still in the 60's-low 70's with high humidity. What a big difference today! I am freezing!

The Pine Belt Pacers did a good job! Phillip Wedgeworth won his age group in 45:06 (Phillip completed his 2,000th trophy of his running career). Our PBP coasters also had a great performance. Bill Gasparrini took Grand Masters honors finishing in 44:03 and Ed Wheeler got second place in his age bracket with a time of 47:06. Kily and I did not place but enjoyed the race very much and of course the food and the goooood carboload refreshments after the run (we have to bring Charles to the races in the coast one day!). I finished in 48:01 and Kily in 52:12. He was in training mode! I... I just died in the bridge.

I guess this race marked the end of the running calendar for me! I can't complain at all. It brought me PRs in distances from 2 miles and 5K to the half and full marathon. Thanks to my Vitruvian shoes!!

See you guys next year! I will probably put on a couple of pounds (maybe 8-12) in the next 4 weeks! So, if you see this "newborn coach-potatistian" in one of the races in January, please wait for me after mile one! I won't be running at all, maybe just rolling and rolling and back in my "XL attire"!  © Pijume Diwesi
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16