On Tucson’s hottest night of the year so far, Leah Rosenfeld came to Tucson from the snowy mountains of Flagstaff to smash the women’s course record in the TMC Meet Me Downtown 5k Night Run.
Cruising the 3.1 mile Downtown route in 17:11, a chipper pace of 5:32 per mile, Leah took home the winner’s purse plus the course record bonus. Said Leah by email after the race, “Thank you so much for allowing me to race in the mile and 5k. [Tucson is] so kind and welcoming to the athletes and I appreciate all of your efforts to make this event happen! As spectators, my parents enjoyed watching the races, listening to the band rock out, and taste test at the food trucks. . . . a first class event!”
Following Leah to the line was fellow Flagstaff runner Courtney Barnes and in third place was Francine Nzilampa, also from Flagstaff. First women’s master 5k runner was Tia Accetta, in a time of 20:33.
On the men’s side, Flagstaff runner John Raneri snagged top honors sprinting to the tape in 15 minutes flat, with local standouts Harry Mulenga and Japhet Kipkoch hot on his heels. Top master’s male was Oro Valley’s Orlando Velasquez, one of the top 40+ runners in the West.
Speaking of the West, the Festival of Miles was named the RRCA West Regional Championships, with top athletes receiving special medallions. The RRCA West Regional Champion in the Mile Run is Harry Mulenga, in a time of 4:19. The Master’s Male winner is Brian Pasero. Super Grand Master’s Champ is Benito Gonzalez, while Grand Masters Champ is Steve Sluyk from Scottsdale.
On the women’s side, the first woman across the line was Courtney Barnes from McKirdy Trained in Flagstaff. Her time of 4:53 makes her the RRCA West Regional One Mile Champion. For the RRCA Championships, 66-year old Kim Andres from Irving, Texas was the first 40+ finisher, taking home the Super-Grand Masters title, while Lisa Kiser was the first woman in the Grand Master’s Division, and Monica Polanco was the first place finisher in the 40-49 year division.
In the Battle of the Badges, Vincent Valenzuela from TPD took first place in a smoking’ time of 5:08, with Steve Vanderlaske from Falmouth, Mass coming in second. First place woman was Erica Cramer in 7:03.
Once again, Mark Cromey ran the whole race in full Tucson Fire Department gear, finishing in 14:18.
Fitkidz: Thanks for all the 319 finishers and the almost 450 registrants
As a reminder, all results follow “gun-time.” The SAR webpage seems to be having problems listing all runners, so you can check http://www.roadrunnerracetiming.com/ for all results and age groups. If you won an age group award, you can visit The Running Shop at 3055 North Campbell any time on the month of June to pick up your award.
