THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 7, 1995 TAG: 9505070190
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines
Terrance Herrington ran in the Kentucky Derby Mile race Thursday in Louisville, and upon returning to his Portsmouth home, woke up sick as a dog.
``I don't know what was wrong, but I felt terrible,'' said the 28-year-old Clemson graduate.
He didn't feel much better Saturday morning, but he dragged himself out of bed and proceeded to defend his championship in the Rally's Elizabeth City Run.
Herrington ran the 10-kilometer (6.1-mile) course of Virginia's largest road race in 30 minutes and 21 seconds, 31 seconds faster than his winning time of a year ago.
Though he was pressed for 5 miles by Richmond resident Mike Rinko, Herrington sprinted into the lead while crossing an overpass that carried the runners from West Ghent onto Brambleton Avenue, and wasn't threatened again.
Pam Runquist, a business reporter for the Daily Press newspaper in Newport News, ran equally strong in the women's division, besting Megan Burns of Virginia Beach by seven seconds to win with a time of 36:38.
Runquist, a Brown University graduate, led the final 5 miles but said Burns pressed her until she crossed the finish line.
For Runquist, a New Jersey native who moved with her husband from Guam to Hampton last August, Saturday's race was her first local victory.
``I won a lot of races in Guam because there were so few people,'' she said. ``It's been harder to win here.''
Not so for Herrington, who is dominant locally when he chooses to run in area races. A member of the 1992 Olympic team, Herrington is training for the 1996 Olympics.
Herrington said after winning last year's race that he wouldn't return. He's training to run the 1,500 meters in the Olympics, and the Elizabeth River Run is simply too long.
``I changed my mind,'' he said Saturday.
The race drew 2,137 runners, about the same as last year, and for the third year in a row featured The Little Lizzie Run, a 1-mile race before the main event. It drew an additional 340 runners and provided educational equipment for four local elementary schools.
Because it had the most registered runners, Ocean View Elementary won two computers donated by Computer Business Services of Tidewater. Sewells Point Elementary won a computer with the second-most entrees.
Bayview Elementary was third and will receive $1,000 of physical education equipment from Virginia Beach Sports. In fourth, Western Branch won $750 in PE equipment.
The 10-kilometer race drew runners of all types, from most of the area's serious competitors to weekend warriors.
It even drew a race-walker - Joe Joyner, a Virginia Beach resident who teaches math at Norfolk's Norview High School. Joyner walked the entire race in 58 minutes, faster than hundreds of runners.
He said he got turned on to race-walking when he was a senior cross country runner at C.W. Post College in New York. The 45-year-old Navy retiree has been race-walking ever since.
The race drew dozens of five-member teams, from those representing businesses to families. For the Kersey family, running the race as a team is an annual event.
Wilbur and Katharine, both of Portsmouth, meet their two sons, Marc of Las Vegas and David of Washington, each year for the run.
Usually, daughter Barbara Steinhauer also participates, but she decided not to this year. Instead, her husband, David, was the fifth member.
Wilbur has missed only one of the 17 Elizabeth River Runs - when he was hospitalized for kidney stones. Katharine, head of Old Dominion's child study center, immediately jumped into a car at the end of Saturday's race and rushed to ODU for graduation ceremonies.
``Marc flew in on the red eye to get here,'' Wilbur Kersey said. ``This race is one of those special family times for us. It's almost like Christmas. And we don't finish last.''
Neither did the Bryan family - Curtis and Vie and children Marie (12), Mersine (11) and Claire (9). The three daughters ran the race as part of their requirements for a karate black belt. Six-year-old Noelle recently ran a 6-mile race and will join the family in the Elizabeth River Run next year.
Most teams go their separate ways when the race begins, but the Bryans ran as a group, with the kids pulling away and sprinting to the finish line as soon as it was within sight.
``The kids had to wait for dad the whole race,'' Curtis Bryan, a child psychiatrist from Chesapeake, said with a laugh.
The loudest ovations from the crowd at the finish line may have been for Bill Latham and Daryl Hulbut. Latham, a Newport News resident, was first in the wheelchair race in 34:10. He trained for the race on a 7-mile course he laid out at Kiln Creek.
Hulbut, a Virginia Beach high school student, crossed the finish line at 1 hour and 34 minutes and was the last finisher.
``I'm tired,'' Hulbut said between gulps of a PowerAde. ``I didn't train for the race. But it was fun.'' ILLUSTRATION: CHRISTOPHER REDDICK/Staff photos
Bill Latham, above, was first in the wheelchair race in 34:10. Pam
Runquist of Hampton was the fastest woman at 36:38. Runquist led the
last five miles but said Megan Burns of Virginia Beach pressed her
all the way.
by CNB