Kevin Auguillard tries to run in a race every three or four months, but until Saturday he had never signed up for the 300 Oaks Road Race in Greenwood.
The unfamiliarity, though, didn’t slow the 30-year-old music teacher from Lake Charles, Louisiana, who finished ahead of the pack to post the overall best time in the 10-kilometer distance.
“I felt really good about it,” said Auguillard of his time of 37 minutes, 27.88 seconds. That equated to a pace of just more than 6 minutes a mile. The next-closest finisher was more than 6 minutes behind.
Auguillard’s wife, the former Lillie Winston, grew up in Greenwood. He said he expects the family may make this September race weekend an annual ritual for a visit.
Kevin Auguillard of Lake Charles, Louisiana, was the overall winner in the 10-kilometer race.
The course, he said, “was fun to run. I love the trees. It was shaded. It wasn’t as hot as some of the other races.”
Auguillard was one of 506 runners and walkers to sign up for one or more of the four events — a 5K run, a 5K walk and a 1-mile color fun run as well as the 10K. The 38th annual race was sponsored by the Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce.
Another out-of-towner, Kristi Hall of Vicksburg, won the female division of the 10K with a time of 44:14.50. It was her ninth time to participate. She said she is “thrilled and excited each time” she comes.
“You never know who’s gonna show up each year. You take what you get,” said Hall, 40.
The 10K attracted runners ranging in age from 7-year-old Langdon Dyskterhouse of Greenwood to 74-year-old Mary Alice Raley of Belzoni.
Langdon, who had spent the last two months training with his parents, Gary and Kathryn Dyksterhouse, posted a time of 57:31.46 in his first ever 10K. Besides winning his age group, Langdon came in 28th out of 74 who completed the distance. He was accompanied on the run by his father.
Langdon Dyksterhouse, right, and his father, Gary, celebrate after the 7-year-old completed his first-ever 10K. Langdon won his age division and finished 28th overall.
Langdon’s grandfather Walker Sturdivant, who set up on Grand Boulevard to watch his grandson in the final run toward the finish line on Keesler Bridge, was proud of Langdon’s effort.
“He was so red. He gave everything he had,” Sturdivant said.
Mikeldrick Burch, who competes in cross country at Greenwood High School, had the fastest time in the 5K run at 20:06.94.
By far the biggest race by attendance was the 5K walk, which drew 240 participants.
Marylin Proctor of Greenwood, who said she has lost more than 70 pounds in the past year, saw the walk as a way to get into shape.
“I wanted to do it. I wanted to try it. I’m so glad I did it,” she said.
Ronald Roma of Vicksburg was the top finisher in the walk at 34:06.33. Gauri Chawla finished second at 34.38.58, winning the women’s division.
In the color run, in which participants are doused with colorful powder at the start and throughout the race, 13-year-old Elise Howard of Greenwood took first, covering the 1-mile course up and down Grand Boulevard in 5:25.62.
Elise Howard, center, tries to emerge from a cloud of colorful powder prior to the start of the 1-mile fun run. The Greenwood 13-year-old would finish first in the event.
Other than some pesky mosquitoes at the start of the day, the event went well, said Beth Stevens, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce. “When everything can run smooth, that’s a good thing,” she said.
• Contact Gerard Edic at 581-7239 or gedic@gwcommonwealth.com. Contact Tim Kalich at 581-7243 or tkalich@gwcommonwealth.com.
