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Saturday, October 13, 2012 -- Wheeling, WV / Warwood Middle School
Auggie's 5K Run & Walk (iPO Event Id#: 13895)

2012: [Details] [Coverage] [Photos] [Overall Results] [Results by Class]

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Helping Animals in Wheeling

Story and photos by Theresa Svoboda.

Auggies 5K photo
Running with friends, best friends.
On Saturday, Oct 13th, Auggie's 5k Run & Walk was held in Wheeling, West Virginia's own Heritage Trail. Auggie's Run, held for the last 14 years is a USATF-certified event established by race director Tom Rownd, memorializing his faithful feline companion. Since 1999, race proceeds go directly to helping unwanted, neglected or abused pets at the OSPCA.

Runners has anticipated fast times with the flat course, but temps were near freezing, preventing a good warm-up for many of the participants, who hovered in groups in the warm gymnasium. There were lots of recognizable faces, as runners in this area team up for training and many were wrapping up their long season with this as the grand finale.

Marti's Ferry native Cedric Robinson was hoping to clinch the win this year with a sub 17 time, which he did, with a second to spare. Congratulations! The next to cross the finish line were Michael Kosek, in 19 minutes, 24 seconds followed right by Casey Morrison the third overall winner at 19:39. Excellent job, men.

Auggies 5K photo
Race time is family time too.
Sherri Martin came in with a time of 20 minutes, 14 seconds to seal her first place as the fastest woman. Sherri is a seasoned runner and set the pace for the next female in, Kristie Barnett at 21:55. Noteworthy is 7th grader Morgan Glass, who followed with a time of 22:11. Glass, who is showing some talent as a runner and clenched a win for her junior division. Third place went to Kelly Barki in 22:15.

The junior men certainly has stiff competition, and battled til the end. Excellent work was displayed in the last 500 feet of the race, which presented a bit of an uphill for these boys, who challenged one another to the finish. Great job to Zachary Kovalski, 13, finishing strong at 22:23. Cody Szabo, age 10, clinched second with 22:51 on the clock, followed one second later by Anthony Gentile.

It is always exciting for the spectators to see strong finishes. Congratulations on working hard until the end.

The Heritage Trail gets daily use from the community, and serves as a popular walking trail for the community, so it's no surprise there was a great turnout for the group. Prizes were awarded to the top three, Gary Bennett speed in on his walk with a time of 25:33, followed by Carl Kondrach and Annette White.

Great efforts by all; thank you for supporting the community of Wheeling and the good cause, see you next year!