5K Road Run

You won’t see it on the golf course, or the baseball diamond, and definitely not on the football field…

But a unique and very special part of road runs is that runners of all ages can be out on the course at the same time—running for all they’re worth. Often you will hear them cheering each other on.

This well describes the Ram Run/Walk held last weekend on the Riverside Christian School campus. Twenty-seven runners from ages 10 to 69 joined together in the cool night air to run the 3.1 miles.

Randall Watts, 51, from Garner in Knott County, was the first to cross the finish line. Watts, who has won this race many times, said he was fighting a cold but felt good out there. So he should. His fine time of 18:50 was better than last year’s 19:10.

Two more runners came in under 20 minutes. Josh Smith, 16, from Cynthiana, finished at 19:49. Jeff Nolan, 44, from Hazard, who has been running for 24 years and averages 35 miles a week, finished at 19:54.

Tiffany Johnson, a ten year old 4th grader, led the way in the women’s division, finishing in 25:25. Just 31 seconds back in second place was Elesha Richardson. She hasn’t been able to run much lately, but Richardson says this is one of her favorite courses. Her time in 2004 was 22:43.

Other runners in the Men’s Division were as follows: 11-14—Steve Johnson, 21:10, Brian Johnson, 23:39, Tyler Smith, 27:24; 15-19—Jimmy Noble, 20:05, Brandon Hudson, 25:38, Joey Gross, 29:26; 30-39—Tony Little, 24:08, Shane Combs, 28:34; 40-49—Greg Frasure, 21:14; 50-59—Jamie Brunk, 23:57, Bob Turner, 28:27; 60-65—Harold Deaton, 21:21; 65 and over—Bill Francis, 25:44, Jack Lowe, 25:57, Connel Polly, 30:18.

Andy Keck, RCS cross country coach, received a trophy for first male alumni finisher. His time was 20:42.

Other runners in the Women’s Division are as follows: 11-14—Deanna Noble, 29:27, Bethany Butters, 36:23, Aungellica Downing, 36:24; 15-19—Beretta Roberts, 27:25, Paige Sizemore, 38:34; 20-29—Teddi Frasure, 29:56.

A Riverside alumnus, Lisa Smith, class of ’84, led the way in the Ram Two Mile Walk in a time of 28:33. A recent alumnus, Bobbie Jo Haddix, ’06, came in second in 29:20. Third was Mary Crowe in 29:21.

Other walkers were as follows: Renae Haddix, 32:09, Glen Neace, 32:52, Penny Francis, 33:06, and Lois Puffer, 33:07. Neace, Francis and Puffer are also alumni.

Bill Francis and Harold Deaton have run in nearly every Ram Run that has been held. Francis has been running for 16 years. Deaton has run in 22 marathons, including 2 in Boston and one in Alaska.

Shane Combs and Bob Turner were first timers in the Ram Run. Both liked the course and being less experienced runners asked, good naturedly, if next year they might be allowed a little head start on the others.

Jimmy Noble from Buckhorn said “This is one of my favorite runs.” Several others shared the same comment.