Baxter fights off ankle to win half marathon

Patience and smart running paid off for the men's winner of the half marathon in the inaugural Riverfront Race Festival on Saturday.

Last month, 33-year-old North Charleston resident Jeff Baxter was feeling great going into the final week before his first-ever half marathon when he twisted an ankle during a night-time run just days before the race. It was a bad sprain that left the ankle swollen and discolored.

After waiting for it to heal and carefully easing back into training, he turned his attention to what his friends dubbed his "home race" -- Baxter works for Noisette at the old Navy shipyard, which hosted the race, and lives in Oak Terrace Preserve -- and ended up winning it in a time of one hour, 22 minutes and seven seconds.

Like a seasoned pro, Baxter went into the race with a strategy.

"I took it out conservatively, like I wanted to. There was a group of about five. With 5K left, I really started pushing it and dropped the pace. I wanted to separate myself from the pack because I didn't want to get into a sprint finish," said Baxter, who ending up winning by 25 seconds.

For the women, Greenville City Councilwoman Amy Ryberg Doyle won in 1:33:50, even though she doubted being able to finish at all. She was still dealing with the effects of a stomach bug.

"My training partner Brian (Lazarus) helped me through the last three miles or else I probably wouldn't have made it," said the 39-year-old mom, who came with five running friends from Greenville to help another friend, Francie Reding of Mount Pleasant, celebrate her 40th birthday Saturday.

In the 10K, friends and training buddies Karl Walsh and Jay Upchurch ran together until Walsh pulled away at Mile 6 to edge Upchurch, who was recovering from an injury, by four seconds. Walsh finished in 33:44.

"I took it out with myself, Jay and Tom Mather. 5:27 first mile," said Walsh, who lives in Mount Pleasant but is a native of Ireland. "Myself and Jay kept working the rest of the way pretty much 'til the six mile. I decided to make a kick for it. Jay was on my back. He was sneaking up behind me, man. I had to make sure I got away from him. It was a good laugh. It was good fun. It was a good race and good course."

Upchurch added that Walsh had about 20 friends cheering for him as they passed Madra Rua Irish Pub on East Montague Avenue.

In the women's race, Cathi Monk, 42, of Mableton, Ga., won in 45:40 -- which is a couple of minutes slower than what she usually runs the distance. Monk, who just happened to be in Charleston visiting a friend, finished the Jacksonville Marathon last month and is just returning to routine training.

In the 5K, Channel 4 weatherman Neville Miller added to his growing list of local 5K victories as he breezed in at a relatively slow, for him, finish of 16:21. Miller took several weeks off after running last month's Reindeer Run.

Meanwhile, turning 40 has been good for Lori Badgley, who won the first race of her life on Saturday with a 22:30 at the Riverfront 5K.

"I've been running on-and-off for years, but took it more seriously in the last year because I was about to turn 40," said Badgley, of Charlotte. "I feel like I'm in the best shape of my life right now."

The Riverfront event -- which also included a family fun walk Saturday and a bike ride today -- drew about 1,500 registrants, but far fewer actually participated. Final tallies on Saturday's races were 586 in the half, 182 in the 10K and 209 in the 5K.

The proceeds from the event benefit the R. Keith and Deborah C. Summey Youth Endowment for the Arts, a local non-profit that supports fine arts programing in Charleston County Schools.

Reach David Quick at dquick@postandcourier.com.