Friday, July 4, 2008

A Star-Spangled 4 on the 4th

I'm too tired to think, but the race exceeded our expectations. Conditions were perfect, and a strong field top to bottom made it a memorable day in Elmhurst. Paul Jellema, a former two-time Illinois high school cross-country champ (Illiana Christian High School), now living in Rochester Hills, Mich., and competing for Hansons-Brooks, took charge -- barely -- with about 3/4 of a mile to go to edge Kenyan Timon Biwott, based in Elkhart, Ind. the winning time of 19:26 set a new event record. On the women's side, Katie McGregor of St. Louis Park, Minn., took out her disapointment of not making the Olympic team in the 10,000 meters last week after a narrow loss in Eugene, Ore. She blistered the course in 21:30, easily setting a women's 4 on the 4th record. We had 801 finishers and NO medical emergencies. People were smiling, and I liked that a lot. Check out www.4on4th.com for links to all results and some pictures.
I'm fried. It was a great day. More later.

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