Colonial Road Runners Teams and Individuals to Compete
By Rick Platt
This Saturday will be the special 10th anniversary edition of the Colonial Sports’ Duke of Gloucester Street Challenge, also known as the Run the D.O.G. Street 5K. Besides attracting annually well over 1,000 runners, with record-breaking finishing times, to the streets of Colonial Williamsburg and the College of William and Mary, the race has been of key importance to the area running community.
Under the direction of Jim Elder of Colonial Sports, the 2010 Run the DOG was the first competitive road race ever to get the OK, and use the historic and scenic streets of Colonial Williamsburg, running past the Governor’s Palace, down Nicholson Street, around the Capitol Building, and finishing with a sprint up “DOG Street”, described by Franklin D. Roosevelt as the “most historic avenue in all America.” That has opened up a popular venue for a number of other races, including the Run for the Dream Half Marathon and 8K (no longer held), the Thanksgiving morning Blue Talon Bistro Turkey Trot 5K, the New Year’s Day Hair of the DOG 5K, February’s Colonial Half Marathon and 5K (beginning in 2019), and starting this year on Saturday, May 18th, the Miles of Kindness series of one mile road races up and down Duke of Gloucester Street. All of these races have helped increase tourism to Colonial Williamsburg, and business for Merchants Square.
The DOG Street 5K has always been a Colonial Road Runners Grand Prix event. When the Hampton Roads Super Grand Prix (a series of 16 of the best races by the CRR, Peninsula Track Club and Tidewater Striders) started in 2016, DOG Street was one of those competitive races. For several years, the race has been the RRCA (Road Runners Club of America) Virginia State 5K Championship.
This year, DOG Street is also the middle race of the inaugural Historic Triangle Triple Crown series of road races. The first was two weeks ago, the fifth annual Victory at Yorktown 10K, and the final race in that historic series is the second annual Democracy Dash 10K at Jamestown Island, set for Saturday, August 24th. With a special Historic Triangle Triple Crown medallion for those completing all three races (two 10Ks and one 5K), there has been great interest in the series from one end of the Colonial Parkway (Yorktown), through Colonial Williamsburg, to the other end (Jamestown). For information on the Triple Crown, visit www.historictriangletriplecrown.com or the CRR website at www.colonialroadrunners.org.
The DOG Street 5K started with a bang in 2010 as four-time William & Mary All-American Ed Moran (class of 2003) broke the all-time CRR men’s overall record, the all-time CRR men’s 25-29 record, and the Virginia state resident 5K record, with a time of 14:13. The previous state mark was 14:18 by Mark Donahue at the 1996 Busch Gardens Drachen Fire 5K Run. The previous all-time CRR record for overall men was 14:37 by Matt Lane at the 2001 Vineyards of Williamsburg 5K Run. Lane was an 11-time All-American for W&M. Moran’s 14:13 remains the DOG Street 5K course record.
Will Christian of Norfolk, the DOG Street winner from 2013 to 2015, and second place last year, set the all-time CRR record for men 30-34 (14:43) at DOG Street in 2014. Last year’s winner, Cyrus Korir, 24, of Kenya and Chapel Hill, NC ran 14:32 to set the all-time CRR men’s 20-24 record, breaking Matt Lane’s previous mark of 14:37.
Another Kenyan from Chapel Hill, Susan Jerotich, 31, broke the all-time CRR women’s overall record and the all-time CRR women’s 30-34 record last year with her time of 16:27, the previous marks 16:32 by former William and Mary women’s coach Kathy Newberry, 32, at the 2010 Queens Lake 5K. That was also a new DOG Street 5K women’s course record, the previous mark 17:43 by former William & Mary runner Kathleen Lautzenheiser of Midlothian in 2014.
A prime reason the race attracts such talent is the prize money, $350-200-100 to the top three men and women overall, and $100 to the first Masters (ages 40-and-over) male and female.
This year’s race favorites include Christian, 2017 champion Robert Reynolds of Mechanicsville, William & Mary senior Patrick Wachter (who ran 15:31 at the Colonial Relays track 5,000 meters April 5th), professional triathlete Adam Otstot of Williamsburg, and four-time CRR Grand Prix champion Roger Hopper of Norfolk. For the women, the race favorite is last year’s third place finisher, Ann Mazur of Charlottesville (17:28), along with 2012 champion Renee High of Virginia Beach (17:53, the race record before Lautzenheiser’s 17:43), and Williamsburg’s Abby Motley.
Among the top Masters (40-and-over) runners are John Piggott, 53, and Steve Chantry, 64, along with the two top Masters (and prize money winners) at the April 6th Victory at Yorktown 10K - Jason Miller, 41, and Paul Pelletier, 53, all four from Williamsburg.
For the Masters women, Karla Havens, 57, of Plainview and Mary Jo Bailey, 58, of Williamsburg, were the top two Masters at the Victory at Yorktown 10K, and will return to DOG Street.Online entries closed Wednesday at 12 noon, but runners can still enter at the pre-race packet picket and late registration, Friday from noon to 7 p.m. at Colonial Sports, 1303 Jamestown Road.
There were 1,166 official finishers last year in the 5K run/walk, many from the Williamsburg James City County SHIP (Student Health Initiative Program). This year’s entry totals on Wednesday were 1,426 in the 5K, including over 400 SHIP runners. Later registrations will put that total over 1,500 entrants. The one mile fun run starts at 7 a.m., the pushed athlete start is 7:25 a.m., the regular 5K run/walk at 7:30 a.m., and the SHIP 5K at 7:35 a.m. There is no race day registration.
The Colonial Road Runners will have four separate teams for DOG Street, including the defending overall team champion, the CRR Open Men team of Roger Hopper (team coordinator), Adam Otstot, Logan St. John and Ryan Doupe (to be joined in 2019 by Steve Seiler and Ben Kaurich).
The CRR Masters Men team has the highest participant total of the four CRR teams, with 15, and includes Victor Flemming, Jason Miller, Paul Pelletier, Steve Chantry, Robert Whitaker, Greg Lynn, David Lockard, Dan O’Brien, Steve Altman, Rick Platt (team coordinator), Robert Jean, Steven Short, Jim Gullo, Rex Hoover and Larry Golub.
The CRR Masters Women team is the next highest in numbers, a total of 12, and includes Karla Havens, Mary Jo Bailey, Susan Hagel, Norma Phillips, Daphne Papaefthimiou, Christine Schaffner, Patricia Travis, Barbara Biasi, Shirley Stephens, Martha Gullo, Karen Corl (team coordinator) and Roswitha Goossens-Winter.
The final CRR team is the CRR Open Women, with four runners, including Julie Myers (team coordinator), and three from the Jean family—daughters Sorenna Jean and Cannon Jean, and mother Criztina Jean.
To all CRR team members, remember to wear your orange and black CRR singlets for the Run the DOG Street 5K race, and cheer on your fellow teammates. For those who don’t yet have CRR uniform apparel (including singlets, T-shirts, long-sleeve shirts, jackets, etc.), contact team clothing coordinator Greg Lynn at cell phone number: 804-642-0816, or email Greg at: dglynn100@gmail.com about getting CRR clothing before the race, or race morning.
Race director Jim Elder is the vision behind the race, and had this comment this week about the 10th anniversary event, that it is “a community event to allow local and regional elites to compete and show what they have, an opportunity for non-elites to train, improve and compete; and a training focus for school running clubs. Each year the race highlights an aspect of Colonial Williamsburg. This year the theme is the Carpenter with the beneficiary being Habitat for Humanity. Habitat is building their first home in Williamsburg at 514 Roycroft.”
Saturday, April 20, 2019
Williamsburg – Run the D.O.G. Street Challenge 5K, 7:30 a.m.; 1 mile fun run, 7 a.m.; Merchants Square. $1,500 in prize money ($350-200-100 to top three overall men and women, $100 to first Masters, 40+, male and female). USATF certified course (VA-10013-RT). Jim Elder, Colonial Sports (757-253-0277). Email: jim@colonialsportscustom.com or Rick Platt, Colonial Road Runners (757-229-7375, cell 757-345-1431). Email: rickplatt1@juno.com. Website: www.colonialroadrunners.org. A Colonial Road Runners Grand Prix Event. A Hampton Roads Super Grand Prix Event. A Historic Triangle Triple Crown Event.Time Schedule
Friday, April 19 – Packet pickup and final late registration at Colonial Sports 1303 Jamestown Road, Suite 111, Williamsburg, VA 23185), from 12 noon to 7:00 p.m., for both 5K and 1 mile.Saturday, April 20
6:00 a.m. to 7:15 a.m. – race-day packet pickup
7:00 a.m. – 1 mile fun run starts (at the finish line)
7:25 a.m. – 5K pushed athletes start
7:30 a.m. – 5K run/walk starts
7:35 a.m. – 5K run/walk SHIP start (youth runners in the WJCC SHIP program)
9:00 a.m. – awards ceremony
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