Published: April 30, 2008 01:37 pm         

Griffin cruises to win at Festival 10K

KOSCIUSKO — Dale Griffin cruised to the win in the Natchez Trace Festival 10K road race on Saturday, beating his competitor by nearly a minute-and-a-half.

The 27-year-old Griffin posted a time of 35:43, while Rob Oates, 29, was second with a 37:10 and 44-year-old veteran runner Mike Thrailkill finished third at 37:53.

Coleen Roudebush, 47, won the women’s division in a time of 48:32, while Mary Lohrez took second in 48:53.

Perhaps the most impressive run of the day belonged to 61-year-old Marvin Hemphill who won the Grand Masters title with a time of 40:34. It was the sixth best time of the day.

In all 83 runners took part in the 10K event with 34 of those besting the 50-minute mark. The youngest 10K runner was 10-year-old Dalton gibson who posted a 1:02:19.

Jack Adair, 57, didn’t let his age get in the way, as he won the 5K Run with a time of 21:36. Finishing second was 36-year-old Donald Martin who had a 23:28, while 40-year-old Kirk Dickerson was third with a 24:21.

Melissa Young, who finished sixth overall in the 5K event, won the women’s division with a time of 21:36.

Three 11-year-olds fared well in the 5K, with Hunter Ray, Rivers Dickerson and Rachel Hartnett finishing 8th, 9th, and 10th with times of 28:11,

28:14 and 28:24 respectively. The youngest competitor in the 5K was 9-year-old Abi Holman who finished in a time of 34:56. There were 40 5K runners in all.

Fifth-eight took part in the 5K walk, with Lance Cooper finishing first at 31:28, while 9-year-old Jerod Meggs finished on tip in the one mile with a time of 7:26. There were 44 competitors in that event.