CHRISTIANSBURG – How do you beat the heat and humidity on the final week of July?

Well for over 100 runners throughout the New River Valley and as far away as Lexington and Bristol, the best way is to run in the annual Cruisin Christiansburg 5K and Fun Run.

The Cruisin' Cristiansburg 5K race and Fun Run began before 8:30 a.m. last Saturday in downtown Christiansburg. Photo by David J. Bissett

Runners raced down Main Street in Christiansburg early in the day thanks to the help of the local Christiansburg Police, who blocked off traffic and made roads easy for all runners/walkers to finish the race no matter how long it took.

The race actually began ahead of schedule (before 8:30 a.m.) but for the runners it was a perfect time to be enjoying a day in the sun. The sun was slowly climbing into the eastern sky but at the same time there was a gentle breeze that swept over the course before the temperatures rose into the mid to upper 90s.

Winning the men’s overall 5K race was George Probst of Blacksburg.

“I led almost from start to finish,” said Probst, who came to Blacksburg for his undergraduate and masters degrees and remained in the NRV ever since.

“I think the first five to 10 steps I wasn’t in the lead but after that I led the entire way,” he said.

Probst turned the 5K race into a sprint wining in 16:38. Second place was Andrew Grubb who nosed out Shane Guynn, the Race Director and Christiansburg High School track coach 17:34 to 17:42 respectfully.

Alex Cooper and Dan Smith finished in a deadlock for fourth and fifth with 18 minute runs. Will Stratton at 18:49 and Connor Gray at 18:59 finished sixth and seventh and were the only other runners under 19 minutes.

Gabriel Whitlock placed eighth and was the only runner in the 19 plus minute mark (19:56).

Three runners ran the course in under 21 minutes to finish ninth, 10th and 11th. They were Mark Joyce (20:08), Erik Olsen (20:09), and Daniel Altizer (21:12).

Pepper Raines was the overall women’s 5K winner with a time of 21:46.

No other runner in the field of 40 was under the 22 minute mark.

Linda Schumann placed second (22:12), with Lynn Baluh third (22:44) and Emilee Hall (22:55).

Jennifer Fleming placed fifth (23:17) while Robin Dowdy took sixth (24:33).

Rounding out the top 11 were Shannon Boston 7th (25:32), Eric Bookout 8th (25:50), Nicole Lloyd 9th (25:52), Nasim Schwab 10th (26:44) and Kayla Richardson 11th (27:23).

Receiving one of the biggest cheers of the day was not the winners of the men’s or women’s overall runs, but the runner in the fun run.

Brian Zentz from nearby Lexington ran as if he was floating on air coming down Main Street. Men and women of all ages cheered this six year old on to victory.

He was clocked in 7:21 and members of the Christiansburg Cross County crew, who served as hosts for this event, shook their heads in disbelief. He ran across the finish line with plenty of energy to spare as if the Fun Run was no big deal to win in under eight minutes.

Mom and Dad as well as his grandmother watched and cheered one of the youngest participants in the event as he crossed the finish line in such a remarkable time.

Brian’s brother, Logan, would finish the course in 21:37 which was good for 14th place overall among the 52 man-field.

Craig coach Kim Kniseley doesn’t see this as “third last.”

“I choose to think of it in terms of the nearly 95 group A high schools in Virginia, which all but a half dozen or so have twice the enrollment, or in many cases more, than Craig County,” he said. “Only 13 of those 95 could field a girls’ team better than the Rockets.”

This was just the second time Craig sent a girls team to the state meet, although three girls have qualified individually, and two of them have done so twice.

“It was especially great to see Kevin Crenshaw, a CCHS alumni and former cross country runner for a district championship team for the Rockets, drive down from George Mason University to support the Rockets and take some pictures for us,” said Kniseley. “Kevin’s parents are veteran teachers for Craig Co.”

Heavy rain in the days before the race made the course wet and muddy, though it has been worse in some past meets.

There were 126 girls who qualified for the meet and finished the race.

The group A girls race was won by Katlyn Ayres, a sophomore from Strasburg, in 19:03 on the winding 3.1 mile course. The team title went to George Mason with 62 points and the runner up was Strasburg with 94 points. Radford High was third with 97 points.

The Rockets were led by Brianna Swartwout, who finished 62nd overall in 23:38. Jessica Stebar was 75th in 24:20 while Kora White was 91st in 25:31. Alyssa Armes ran 26:20 for 103rd and Danielle Rock again rounded out the team scoring in 26:43 for 110th place.

Jennifer Martin ran 27:46 for 114th and Jodee Martin clocked 27:53 for 115th.

“I really was proud of our girls, they represented us well, behaved great throughout the trip, and hopfully made some memories for a lifetime,” said Kniseley.

LB's Bennett Witcher passes a Byrd runner in the Blue Ridge District cross country meet.-Photo by H.G. McCoy Jr.

The Region III meet will be held today, with the girls meet set to take the gun at 3:30 p.m. The boys follow, and the top four teams go to the state meet, as well as the top 15 individuals.

The Region C meet will be Thursday, same time, same deal. The state Group A, AA and AAA meets will be held at the Great Meadow course near Warrenton on Saturday, Nov. 14.

Last Wednesday the Blue Ridge District meet was held at Greenfield. The William Byrd boys and the Northside girls were team winners, while LB’s boys and girls both finished third and advanced to the Region C meet.

In the boys meet Micah Luedtke ran 19:15 to finish sixth overall and lead the Cavaliers. Kevin O’Connor of Byrd won the race in 17:45. Also scoring for LB were Bennett Witcher in 12th, Tyler Barnette in 18th, Michael Chesser in 20th, and Mitch Willis in 23rd.

Erin Wheeler of Northside won the girls race in 21:07. First for LB was Taylor Cline, who was fourth in 23:48. Also scoring for the girls were Eryn Turney in seventh, Sarah Hammer in 9th, Jessica Snead in 15th, and Samantha Bailey in 18th.

In the Pioneer meet the Craig County girls won their sixth Pioneer District cross country championship in the past seven seasons when the Rockets outran the competition at Glen Maury Park in Buena Vista last Wednesday. Craig scored 38 points in the meet, with Highland County finishing second with 47. Highland is the only school to beat Craig in the district meet for the past seven years, topping the Rockets by just one point in 2007. James River finished third with 60 points, Bath was fourth with 78, and Parry McCluer did not have a complete team.

Highland’s Haley Billingsly (Jr.) won the race in 23:02, 43 seconds ahead of River’s Britta Grim. Maggie Gumbine of James River was 11th and Katherine Day was 13th.

Covington won the boys championship with 40 points, followed by James River with 57, Bath County with 65, Highland County with 87, and Craig County with 96. Host Parry McCluer did not have a complete team.

Bath’s Matt Persinger, a junior, won the boys race in 19:18. Dylan Coleman of James River was fourth in 20:13 and Austen Bryant of the Knights was close behind at 20:21, finishing fifth. Andrew Fields also slipped into the top 15.

“We were a bit undermanned as one of our top five girls couldn’t run and our first and third boys couldn’t run,” said Craig coach Kim Kniseley.

Craig’s Kora White (#1318) runs in the Metro Cross Country meet at Green Hill Park in Salem

A total of 23 schools attended and all were AA or AAA except Floyd Co, Auburn, Eastern Montgomery, Glenvar and Craig Co. The Metro is the oldest race in the valley.

The girls were just behind Salem and ahead of Lord Botetourt, Glenvar and Alleghany Co.  Blacksburg won both team races.

First for the Lady Rockets was Brianna Swartwout in a personal best time of 23:19. Also scoring were Kora White in 24:37, an improving Jessica Stebar in 24:44, Jodee Martin in 26:18 and Alyssa Armes in 27:27. Jennifer Martin ran 28:09 and Nicole Alley had a time of 28:56.

John Lipes was first for the boys in 20:27, followed by Vincent Bailey in 22:18, James Wright in 23:03, Justin Dowdy in 23:08, Jacob Garman in 26:31.09 and Jacob Beard in 26:31.36.

Today Craig’s runners will go from the flattest course in the region at Green Hill Park to probably the hilliest and toughest at Highland County for another all Pioneer District meet.