Terer, Rionotukei Win North Shore Half

I do crazy things, including the Ragnar Relay in hot weather, but there was no way I was going to run the North Shore Half Marathon on Sunday. It was very warm. But that did not stop 2,353 runners from starting and finishing this long-standing race in Highland Park. Another 917 ran the 5K. In the half, it was Kenyan-flavored as Geofrey Terer, 28, a resident of McDonough, GA, won in 1:07:13. That was just good enough to beat Patrick Cheptoek, 26, of Bowling Green, KY, who came in at 1:07:18. Third place was taken by David Tuwei, 33, of Coon Rapids, MN, in 1:07:26. Women's champion was Chemtai Rionotukei,23, of Lansing, MI, in 1:18:15. Second went to Rebekah Smeltzer, 22, of Lansing, MI, in 1:21:43, and third went to Amber Druien, 26, of Woodstock, in 1:25:26. In the 5K, Sean Choate, 21, of Chicago, won in 17:12. Caroline Hryczyk, 33, of Round Lake was the female champ in 20:42. This race has been around a long time. Those top threes in the half were among its strongest runners ever.