Overcast skies and the occasional raindrop didn’t dampen Saturday’s second annual Viking Half Marathon & 5K.
“There was a little rain this morning. I heard a runner say, ‘These are perfect running conditions,’ so that’s a good thing,” said Beth Stevens, executive director of the Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce.
For Frank Buscher of Memphis, a member of the Memphis Runners Track Club, the cloudy conditions didn’t really bother him.
“Just so long as there is no lightning,” he said.
Avery Ainsworth of Ridgeland was the first man to cross the finish line in the half marathon with a time of 1:18.39.56.
“I didn’t do this one last year,” said Ainsworth, 33, the general manager of Fleet Feet Sports in Jackson.
Ainsworth said a year ago he was training for the Boston Marathon and couldn’t fit the half marathon into his schedule.
Meggan Franks of Starkville was the first woman to cross the finish line in the half marathon with a time of 1:22:13.63.
A native of Canada, Franks, 29, said this was her first half marathon in Greenwood.
“It was wonderful, absolutely wonderful. Perfectly organized. ... Gorgeous,” she said.
Franks’ husband, Houston, is the cross country coach at Mississippi State University.
Franks was accompanied by her father, Dennis Hodge of Calgary Alberta, Canada, and her daughter Maddie, 2½.
She said she comes from a long line of runners, saying that her father would have run on Saturday if he didn’t need to baby-sit.
In the 5K, Gary Dennis, a teacher from Milford, Pa., was the first man to cross the finish line with a time of 17:07.32.
“My goal, sometime in life, is to run a race in every state. Now I have Mississippi,” he said.
Dennis, 42, has raced in 32 states.
“Being in the Northeast, I was able to get a lot of that area. It just sort of happened. It wasn’t that I set out years ago to do. I just happened to be in Wyoming one time, then Colorado and California,” he said.
Jaime Wilbanks of Greenwood was the first woman to cross the 5K’s finish line with a time of 20:50.45.
She said the event proved to be a good one.
“It was perfect. The weather was great. The race was great,” Wilbanks said.
While the rain had slicked the road surfaces, she said, her new running shoes helped.
Greenwood Mayor Carolyn McAdams said the event seemed to bring the best out in everyone.
“At the water stations, everybody was gung-ho and chipper. That’s what you want to see,” she said.
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7293 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
nContact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
