Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 14, 1995 TAG: 9505150106
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Michelle Chavis is beginning to develop a similar pattern.
Stover and Chavis were not seriously challenged and their times reflected it Saturday morning in the annual race up Brambleton Avenue from the City of Roanoke to Roanoke County and back.
It was the fourth time Stover has entered the race in its eight-year history and he now has two firsts to go with a pair of seconds. His first victory was in 1990.
``I really like this course,'' said Stover, a 27-year-old graduate of William Byrd High School and Radford University, ``but you never know about this race because it always has a strong field.''
Stover finished with a time of 20 minutes, 55 seconds - the slowest winning men's time in the event's history - but fast enough to give him a convincing 19-second margin over training partner Ken Monger.
There was a 29-second gap between Chavis and runner-up Pamela Rickard in the women's division. Chavis' time of 25:12 was the slowest to win the women's race, although the cool conditions were conducive to a quick pace.
``Maybe I would have run a little faster if there had been somebody up there with me,'' Stover said.
Unlike Stover, who would have been considered a prerace favorite, Chavis was something of a long shot in the women's field.
``I thought I might place'' in the top four, said Chavis, who finished fourth last year. ``The only thing I thought about winning was my age group.''
Chavis, 32, was able to clip more than three minutes off her time from last year in capturing her second race of the season in Roanoke. She also took first in the Doctor's Day Race.
``I've been doing a lot of lifting and weight training,'' said Chavis, who lives in Greensboro, N.C., but trains with a group in the Henry County area. ``It also helped this year that I had run the course before and knew what was coming.''
Stover's victory came at a time when he has had to scale back his training while pursuing an MBA from Averett College in Danville. He has worked during the past 3 1/2 years in the medical-supply department of Trigon Blue Cross/Blue Shield.
``It's cut me back a lot,'' Stover said. ``I'm still getting in 50 miles a week, but it's not as much as I'm accustomed to. I can't run twice a day like I used to do in college.''
Stover took the lead in the first half-mile Saturday and gradually built his margin throughout the race. Chavis could only assume she led from start to finish because she didn't see another woman on the course after the race began.
A heavy race-day registration pushed the field to close to 560, with 7-year-old Cathy Maynard of Abingdon and 81-year-old Artie Levin of Roanoke receiving special recognition as the youngest and oldest runners, respectively, in the race.
by CNB