Sometimes you just gotta try. After staying close to Roger Hopper the entire Run for Mental Strength 6K race on May 11, and closing fast to finish just eight seconds behind, Erik Stauderman decided to take a risk and challenge Hopper for the win at the fifth annual FURever Homes 8K on June 15, the 10th Colonial Road Runners Grand Prix race of 2024. It didn’t work.
The FURever Homes 8K, and accompanying 5K and one mile pet run, had a nice turnout at Jamestown High for the three races with 409 total finishers; 303 finishers combined in the 8K (the Grand Prix race, with awards in all age groups from 14-and-under to 75-and-over) and the 5K (less competitive with awards to the top five overall men and women), along with 106 finishers in the one mile, a fun run and a pet run.
Many more virtual runners entered to support the cause, the Heritage Humane Society. And a large Vendor Village, with a dozen or more booths of animal-related organizations kept runners and spectators entertained all morning long. The three race directors were Jennifer Lafountain, the marketing and community engagement manager of the Heritage Humane Society, Kimberly Laska, the executive director since 2012 of HHS, and Dave Berger of the nearby Spoke & Art Provisions Co., a CRR board member, and the original FURever race director, which started in 2020. The original Greensprings race, on the same 8K course, was the Greensprings Miles for Smiles 8K, from 2017 to 2019.
At the Run for Mental Strength 6K on the challenging and hilly Warhill Nature Trail, CRR Grand Prix leader Adam Otstot won in 20:04, with Hopper second in 20:42, and Stauderman third in 20:50. At the FURever 8K, the top three men were nine-time CRR Grand Prix champion Hopper, 33, of Chesapeake (27:01), Stauderman, 24, of Williamsburg (28:25) and Wilson Mason, 33, of Hollis, N.H. (30:22). The course record is 25:28 by Evan Leach, 23, of Richmond in 2023, with Hopper second last year in 25:42.
For the women, Emma Rogers, 24, of Williamsburg set a course record of 29:59, breaking the previous mark of 31:41 by Emily Honeycutt in 2023. Honeycutt, 33, of Newport News placed second this year, in 32:55, and Isabella Strumke, 10, of Toano was third in 33:55. Both Rogers (20-24) and Strumke (14-and-under) also broke age group records.
Others in the men’s top 10 were Christopher Minty, 36, of Williamsburg (30:43), Timothy Suhr, 53, of Williamsburg (31:31), Chris Geraghty, 39, of Yorktown (31:59), Jack Strumke, 14, of Toano (32:24), Pete Gibson, 68, of Murfreesboro, N.C. (33:17), Kyle Aulenbach, 47, of Yorktown (34:04), Steven Short, 42, of Hampton (34:05) and David Anderson, 54, of Williamsburg (34:09). Minty broke the race 35-39 age group record by 35 seconds. The other men’s age group record was by Dale Abrahamson, 75, of Yorktown (43:05) for the men’s 75-79 category. Gibson missed his own 65-69 record by 13 seconds.
For the women, the remainder of the top 10 were Svitlana Honcharova, 26, of Williamsburg (34:32), Tricia Murphy, 43, of Williamsburg (35:25), Aimee Gianoukos, 48, of Williamsburg (36:21), Karen Grabowski, 40, of Toano (36:25), Leslie Harrison, 60, of Rotonda West, Fla. (39:33), Katherine Wease, 34, of Williamsburg (40:24), and Jessica Anderson, 42, of Williamsburg (40:52). Honcharova broke Honeycutt’s 25-29 race record by 14 seconds, Murphy broke Megan Schulze’s 40-44 record by seven seconds, and Carol Hansen-Vessa of Williamsburg celebrated her 70th birthday (from six days earlier) by breaking Patricia Travis’s 70-74 record (was 50:28, now 49:22).
On an age-graded basis, as compiled by Travis, two runners bettered the national-class level of 80%, Gibson (83.55%) and Isabella Strumke (83.26%). Four more were above 75%–women’s winner Rogers (79.04%), men’s winner Hopper (77.85%), along with Suhr (76.99%) and Leslie Harrison (76.11%). Stauderman (73.72%), Honeycutt (72.43%), Gianoukos (72.00%), Connie Glueck, 60, of Williamsburg (41:54, 71.85%), David Anderson (71.66%), Orlando Perez, 62, of Newport News (37:03, 70.91%), Murphy (70.68%) and Abrahamson (70.42%) were above the regional class level of 70%.
Stauderman, the sales and service consultant for William & Mary Athletics emailed, “I enjoyed the course and how it mixed in all three of the different running trails in the Greensprings area [the crushed stone Greensprings Trail, and the asphalt Powhatan Creek Trail and Virginia Capital Trail]. I had the thought of going out with Roger because I would never know if I could maintain that faster pace if I didn’t try. Little did I know, it would not work out well. I stayed with him for the first 1.3 miles, but once we got onto the Capital Trail in the sun, I knew I had to back off because I was starting to hurt. My mile splits started strong and then slowly diminished. Once I got to mile 3, I was just trying to get to the finish line because I was not feeling good with the hard start and the heat. My 8K PR time is 28:10 at the Yorktown Freedom Run 8K a few weeks ago and I think if I went out at my pace I would’ve beaten that time, but I decided to go try and win because if you don’t try, you’ll never know!”
Women’s winner Rogers emailed, “I loved running through the Greensprings trails in the shade. That was super nice given the heat. I did not know the course record, so that was a happy surprise. I was satisfied with my time, though it wasn’t my greatest race ever.”
Honeycutt emailed, “Last year I knew the record was attainable, and this year I knew Emma would have an easy time getting it. I also knew this was not a PR course with the trail sections. With the heat and humidity, I went with more of a tempo pace, going out with 2 miles that were somewhere in the 6:20s, slowing to somewhere in the 6:50s for the next 2 miles, and picking it up at the end to finish with a 6:02 last mile.”
Murphy emailed, “This is one of my favorite places to run in town. I love the combination of trails and the flat paved areas. It was hot for me and I definitely think that made a difference in my race. My mile splits were: 6:38, 6:56, 7:25, 7:31, 7:24. I was running alone for most of the race as I was in an empty gap. That made it hard to keep my pace, but it was hot and I didn’t have anything else to give.”
Leslie Harrison of Florida was a familiar face, but with a different name. She was a national class triathlete and Olympic Trials Marathon qualifier as Leslie Fedon from Virginia Beach, and was a regular for decades at all the major road races in the Hampton Roads area (Shamrock, Hampton Coliseum, Colonial Half Marathon, etc.). Her marathon PR and Olympic Trials qualifier of 2:41:47 came at the 1995 Shamrock Marathon, where she placed second overall. She was also ninth female at the 1989 Hawaii Ironman World Championship Triathlon in 9:49. Her 8K PR of 27:40 came at Shamrock 1996. Harrison texted, “I loved the [FURever] course and the trails in the park system. I was looking for a distance between 5-10 miles. We visit Norfolk, Virginia Beach several times a year. I love running in Williamsburg and looking for races there.” She retired from the Virginia Beach public schools in 2017, where she coached cross country and track at Cox High from 1997-2016.
Although the 5K was less competitive than the Grand Prix 8K, one exceptional time was recorded. Elliot Bruhl, 17, a Jamestown High junior cross country runner, ran a 17:15 to break the previous 5K course record of 17:32 by Jacob Warner, 21, of Williamsburg, a W&M student, in 2020. He age graded a regional-class 75.08%. The women’s winner of the 5K, Michelle Ballin, 41, of Williamsburg ran a 21:49 and age graded 69.78%.
Rick Platt is president of Colonial Road Runners.
