Salute to the Military, Part 2

By Rick Platt


For track and field aficionados, one name stood out among the 250 pre-registered runners at the sixth annual Salute to the Military “Red, White and Blue 5K”, held last Saturday morning at the Cheatham Annex Naval Weapons Station in Williamsburg—Saad El Moutawakel, 46, of Chesapeake, serving with the U.S. Navy at Little Creek. Could there be a connection between him and Nawal El Moutawakel of Morocco, the first Muslim and African female Olympic champion, the winner of the 400-meter intermediate hurdles at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games after competing for Iowa State University; and now, at age 50, a vice president of the International Olympic Committee?

The answer was yes. Saad is the younger brother of the legendary hurdler, and he was an accomplished athlete himself, having once broken the four-minute barrier in the mile, and later running a 1:10 for the half marathon. Now a U.S. citizen, and a “Master at Arms,” specializing in facility security at the Joint Expeditionary Base at Little Creek-Fort Story in Norfolk-Virginia Beach.

Before the race, El Moutawakel had high hopes, wanting to know the exact course, and talking about running in the 16s for the 3.1-mile distance. But his pre-race preparation the day before left a bit to be desired. After running seven miles on Friday, he lifted weights, then roto-tilled his back yard. The last activity left his back sore, but he decided to come to the race anyway, with his wife Eriko (who placed third for women 35-39).

Early on there were four contenders, Steve Chantry, 57, and Greg Dawson, 47, both of Williamsburg and the host Colonial Road Runners, along with 19-year-old Joshua Edens of Westerville, OH and the Army, and El Moutawakel of the Navy. Before the one-mile mark, on a hairpin turn just before the only hill on the course, Chantry and Edens broke away, with Dawson and El Moutawakel forming the second group. Edens led for most of the race, but was caught by Chantry in the final half mile. Chantry won in 17:15, breaking his own record as the oldest runner ever to have won a CRR Grand Prix event, with Edens next in 17:26. Dawson pulled away from El Moutawakel halfway through, and took third easily, 17:45 to 18:24, with the CRR’s Daniel Shaye (18:25) and the women’s winner Karen Terry (18:25) both almost catching an exhausted El Moutawakel.

In the military competition, the top three were Edens (Army), Dawson (Navy) and El Moutawakel (Navy), the latter two leading Navy to a win in the Commander’s Cup (military team of five). Navy had 30 points, with Army runner-up (42), followed by the Coast Guard (48) and the Air Force (90).

For the women, Terry, 23, of Newport News, ran her 18:25 to break the course record of 19:00 by Heidi Peterson, then 13, of Williamsburg in 2007. Peterson recently graduated from Lafayette High as one of the all-time Bay Rivers District female greats, and was named (along with Adam Link of Walsingham) one of the two CRR Scholarship Fund recipients for 2012. Runner-up to Terry, the 2011 CRR Grand prix champion, was six-time CRR champion Jennifer Quarles, 40, of Williamsburg (19:09), with Marie Nimod third in 19:34.

Race age group records were broken by Edens (men 19-and-under, 17:26), Chantry (men 55-59, 17:15), John Essery of Williamsburg (men 75-and-over, 28:55), Terry (women 20-24, 18:25), Nimod (women 30-34, 19:34), Quarles (women 40-44, 19:09), Mercedes Castillo-D’Amico (women 50-54, 20:03), Louise Sharer of Williamsburg (women 60-64, 25:19), Joan Coven of West Point (women 70-74, 25:56), Ann Manciagli of Williamsburg (women 75-79, 35:39) and Pat Eden of Williamsburg (women 80-and-over, 45:55).

The 50-54 record of 20:03 by Castillo-D’Amico, 54, of Newport News, fourth overall for the women, was most notable, as she was just nine days shy of her 55th birthday, and the Virginia state 5K record for women 55-59 is 20:49, 46 seconds slower than what Castillo-D’Amico ran on Saturday. She will probably go for that state record at the Governor’s Land 5K on November 17, the RRCA Virginia State 5K Championship.

For the age group records, Jen Quarles actually tied the record of 19:09 by Linda Sawvell of Newport News from the 2007 race. George Carrigan of Williamsburg was agonizingly close to the men’s 60-64 record by Robert Wilson of Toano, who ran 21:21 at the 2008 race. Carrigan ran a time of 21:22 this year, just one second off, and he was aware of the record as he sprinted to the finish line.

The Cheatham Annex course was used for the Salute to the Military 5K in 2007-09, and the race switched to the Coast Guard Base Yorktown for 2010-11, before returning to Cheatham Annex. The event is organized by the Greater Williamsburg Chamber and Tourism Alliance. There were 255 finishers this year in the 5K run/walk.