Sometimes it’s amazing what one can do with young legs.
Morgan Hill – Sometimes it’s amazing what one can do with young legs.
Take Lance Wolfsmith, for example. The Sobrato sophomore ran a sizzling 9:51.16 at the Frosh/Soph Classic Track and Field meet Friday and was strong enough to come back 42 hours later and cross the finish line first with Derek Pesta in the 24th annual Wildflower 10K race.
In fact, the 5K and 10K races featured strong performances by “young guns” as three area high schools had runners place first. Pesta is a junior at Gilroy High and 5K women’s winner Olivia Duran is a Live Oak sophomore.
And yet, the thirtysomething runners were in the mix as well. Dr. Kari Anne Bertrand of Gilroy, whose previous race was last year’s Wildflower run, was an easy winner on the women’s side of the 10K in 37:49.55. And Jeffrey Page of Los Gatos won the men’s 5K in 17:16.20.
“I came full circle,” said Bertrand, 36, who gave birth six months ago to daughter, Nola. “It’s always scary the first one, knowing where you’re going to be. I just wanted to run evenly.”
Her time was more than 4 1/2 minutes ahead of runner-up Sheri Kidwell, who was second in 42:28.08. Bertrand’s time was only 12 seconds behind the time she ran last year.
Wolfsmith set the early pace in the 10K race before he was caught by Pesta a little past the 2-mile mark on the flat course. The two Wolf Pak Racing and Triathlon team members ran together the rest of the way, crossing the finish line together in 35:28.07.
“That’s a good time for me,” said Wolfsmith, a top-notch junior triathlete, said of his 35:28.07 effort.
“It’s my first 10K and I’m really happy with the way I ran,” said Pesta, one of the better distance runners in the Tri-County Athletic League.
Duran finished third last year in the 5K race won by San Benito High’s Annmari Rich. This time, Duran was first in 21:21.19 with Rich less than eight seconds behind.
“She was in front of me until I caught her around the 2-mile mark,” Duran said. “It was a hard race but I ran well. I was happy to finish with a time in the 21s.”
A total of 388 pre-registered for the races that also included a 2K run, and then an additional 200 signed up on race which featured sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 50s and the hint of a breeze.
“This is the most we ever had,” said Barbara Palmer of the sponsoring Morgan Hill branch of American Association of University Women. Proceeds help provide scholarships for one Live Oak and Sobrato senior, and to a Gavilan College student who is continuing her education. Additionally, five scholarships are awarded to middle school students from Britton and Murphy for a summer science and math camp at Stanford.
