Sunday, March 30, 2003 -- Morgantown, WV
Cooper's Rock 2003 (MAGP #1) (iPO Event Id#: 5372)
Story and photos by Erin O'Reily

[Details] [Coverage]
[Overall Results] [Results by Class]
Pictures: [Set 1] [Set 2] [Set 3] [Set 4] [Set 5] [Set 6] [Set 7]
Please stay tuned for complete 2003 results
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Hitting the hills at Coopers

The Coopers Rock 10k continued on after being postponed from 8 inches of snow the previous week. A very chilly thirty some degrees but we'll take it over snow any day.

For those of you that chose the Coopers Rock 10k for their first ever... Don't worry, not all 10k's are as hilly as this one. Everyone should give thanks to Bob Baker (race director) for putting on a great race and a special thanks for the lovely up hill finish. Check out Bobs picture, I think I see horns behind his ears!

Another great performance was put on by Jaron Hawkins from Frostburg, MD. The 21-year-old won the race in a time of 33:46, an impressive time for this challenging course. Many college coaches wished they could have Jaron on their team.

Certainly a fine day for a walk in the park

Second place overall was taken by Heather Bury of Morgantown WV in a time of 35:10. Heather is training for the Olympic trials for the Marathon in April 2004. Heather will first take the challenge of the 25K and US Half Marathon championships this May and June. Good Luck Heather!

Third Place overall was the notoriously dominant masters runner out of Morgantown WV, Ed Frohnapfel. Ed ran a time of 35:40. Let me say that Ed often makes the young and out of shape feel guilty. Check out his picture and decide for yourself, is he one or two percent body fat?

Fourth overall as well as third in the men's division was Isaya Okwiya out of Charleston WV. The 32-year-old ran a time of 36:00.0. Great job Isaya!

A friendly sprint to the finish

Following Heather Bury on the women's side was the second place finisher, 27-year-old Sallie Johnson of Morgantown. Sally ran a time of 42:15 and was also 19th in the overall race. Keep an eye out for Sallie, this girl has some talent! And third place for the hilly Coopers rock run was taken by Becky Cosner of Oakland MD.

This concludes the top three men and women overall for the Coopers rock 10k. But I need to mention two more people who ran with all their heart, Richard Bunner and Maurice Miller. At the ages 73 and 74 Richard and Maurice are an inspiration to everyone in the running community! I hope I'm still going strong in my late 30's.

Last but not least was the 5k race walk. Leading the men overall was Ken James, a neighbor from north of WV in Trafford, PA. Ken finished in a time of 30:14. Working hard for his second place was another race walker from PA, Graig Baer. Graig represents his hometown of Fort Hill and raced in at a time of 33:22. Third was Morgantown's Keith Bailey. Keith finished in a time of 36:17. Great job guys!

And you can take in the view after the race

On the women's side of the 5k race walk was first place finisher Janet Hardesty from Oakland, MD. Janet looked strong as she finished in 37:10. Janet was also 5th overall. Right behind Janet was Lisa Bennet from Mt Morris, PA. Lisa finished in a time of 38:04.

And rounding out the women's division for the race walk was Leah Hammer of Morgantown. Leah hammered in her third place finish at 38:26. Leah was also 8th overall out of 30 race walkers. Great job ladies and gents!

Thanks again to race director Bob Baker for a great show. And thank you for the painfully challenging course. We can always count on you!