LaFleur, Kovacs post victories in 31st annual 5K

LaFleur

Kovacs

Michelle LaFleur has had some nagging injuries this year that have caused some setbacks. But she's finally healthy and was in top form Thursday to win the women's division of the 31st annual Knights of Columbus Turkey Day Run.

LaFleur, a native of upstate New York who now resides in Savannah, was injured and struggled to a 113th-place finish in the Olympic marathon trials, which were held in April in Boston.

"I was hurt at the Olympic trials and I'm healthy as a horse at the turkey trot," said LeFleur, who turned in a time of 17 minutes, 2.94 seconds over the 5-kilometer course to easily win over three-time champ Carre Joyce to win the race for the second straight year. "Injuries never come at the right time. I didn't know what to expect coming in. Coming into the race, I didn't have confidence. I didn't know what to expect. I just didn't know."

Tamas Kovacs, a native of Hungary who attends High Point University in North Carolina, was the men's division champ. He ran the course in a record time of 14:31, which was 28 seconds faster than second-place finisher Neil McDonagh.

LaFleur defeated Joyce, a former all-state runner who went on to run collegiately for Villanova.

"Carre went out on the gun, and she was ahead of me. She was in a rhythm. I decided to hang back for the first half mile and she took off. My first mile split was 5:12 and I told myself to relax. Coming down the final street, crossing the finish line, I felt pretty good. Sometimes, you never feel good. But I was happy," she said. "I think my time was three seconds faster than last year. There were a couple of previous winners here, you never know who will be here. You don't know what to expect so you just worry about yourself."

LaFleur ran in her second Turkey Day Run. Last year, she beat runner-up Joyce by 10 seconds.

While LaFleur is a Turkey Day veteran, Kovacs ran his first race and left his name in the record book.

"I was looking for a Thanksgiving Day race, one that was good quality and close by. My teammate (Cole Atkins) is from here and he told me about it. I think it was perfect. It was a little cold this morning, but by the time the race started, it warmed up. I heard the course might be a little windy down by the ocean, but it wasn't too bad."

Kovacs said Thanksgiving isn't observed in his native country. But he was well aware of the custom in the United States.

"I'm going to cool down, go home and take a nap," he said. "Then I'll wait for the turkey to come, Thanksgiving dinner."

A record 4,852 runners and walkers registered for the race, and 4,313 crossed the finish line. That topped last year's record, when 4,607 people registered for the event and a record 4,279 crossed the finish line.

The event is a fundraising project of the Rev. P. N. Lynch Council No. 704 of the Knights of Columbus.

Results

WOMEN

Overall: 1. Michelle LaFleur 17:02.94. 2. Carre Joyce 17:32.07. 3. Jenny McDonagh 18:13.23. 4. Anne Wyman-Cipolla 18:35.81. 5. Kathlyn Cavanaugh 19:09.15. 6. Veira Carlstram 19:23.23. 7. Emily Johnson 19:27.41. 8. Kelly Hazel 19:51. 9. Meredith Nelson 19:58. 10 Katherine Loneman 20:06.34.

Age Groups — 9-and-under: Anna Marie Gluhosky 23:43. 10-14: Carley Wilson 20:48. 15-19: Taylor Stubbs 20:42.29. 20-24: Mary Whaley 20:22. 25-29: Chappell Hughes 21:42. 30-34: Darby Tucker 21:58. 35-39: Molly Cherry 20:26.88. 40-44: Kelly Hazel 19:52.75. 45-49: Jackie Blythe 20:29.97. 50-54: Lori Pope 23:25. 55-59: Mary Mauldin 22:46. 60-64: Nancy Curry 24:03. Masters: Veira Carlstram 19:23.23. Grand Masters: Ann Elish 21:46.

MEN

Overall: Tamas Kovacs 14:31. 2. Neil McDonagh 14:59. 3. Cole Atkins 15:15. 4. Daniel Hughes 15:23. 5. Hunter Wilis 15.24 6. Jay Upchurch 15:24. 7. Brian Johnson 15:27. 8. Everett Whiteside 15:29. 9. Brendan Kight 15:55. 10. Ryan Thompson 16:00.

Age Groups — 9-and-under: Jackson Ellenberg 20:20. 10-14: Denver Bailey 17:48. 15-19: Chris Fallis 16:36. 20-24: Dave Thomas 16:52. 25-29: Nevelle Miller 16:30. 30-34: James Gifford 16:07. 35-39: Maurice Davis 17:09. 40-44: James Sonefeld 16:37. 45-49: Mikle Seekings 18:09. 50-54: Dave Renneison 17:37. 55-59: Keith Merritt 19:24. 60-64: Steve Annan 18:45. 65-69: Sonny Barber 21:26. 70-and-over: Jerry Ledford 24:01.