Byrdsong Run A Special Race

In the local race that best promotes racial and gender equality as well as non-violence, large fields showed up in Evanston today for the annual Ricky Byrdsong Memorial Race Against Hate. I so respect this race and what it stands for, especially in the world we live in today. In the 5K, Columba Montes, 33, of Chicago, one of the top female runners in the Chicago area, won with a nice 18:11. Second-place woman was Mariana Trego, 22, of Chicago, in 19:08. She was followed by Erika Vazquez, 32, of Chicago, in 19:34. Matt Marol, 21, was the men's winner in 15:38. Next was Micah Beller, 17, in 15:54, and third went to Alec Dinerstein, 14, in 17:34. Masters wnners were Kayoko Hamamura, 51, of Chicago, in 20:40, and Christopher Travis, 40, of Evanston, in 17:40. And I can't leave out the 62-plus winners, good friends Nancy (22:04) and Carle (23:26) Rollins, of Evanston. There were 1,694 finishers in the 5K. The 10K women's crown went to Laura Papageorgiou, 25, in 40:52. Runner-up female was Debbie Ackerman, 44, in 41:02, and No. 3 was Jenn Terry, 18, in 42:26. Leading male and overall winner was Jesse Kleinjan, 28, of Chicago, in 33:18. Second was Jeffrey Pentek, 26, in 34:15, and third was takn by Andrew Leonard, 27, in 34:21. The top masters were Carol Wada, 44, in 44:05, and Mark Smith, 40, in 37:31. The over 62 winners were Linda Brown in 59:59 and Yakov Beyrak in 45:34. There were 697 finishers in the 10K. If anyone who ran this race is reading this, you are cordially invited to enter the Community Bank of Elmhurst 4 on the 4th (www.4on4th.com).