Gabby Gobble 5K draws Thanksgiving Day thousand
More than 1,000 runners, some dressed as pilgrims, others wearing long-necked turkey hats with feet, gathered Thanksgiving morning for the third running of the Gabby Gobble 5K. The crowd was family connected, not the usual array of laid-back race-day zealots. The runners on the straightaway to the finish line crowded in close, looking like a frenzied Tour de France finish. Sprinters elbowed each other, pounding the pavement and jostling, teeth bared, their gallops producing thunderous foot strikes. It was a wheels off the wagon bit of dangerous fun, and miraculously no one got knocked into the middle of Cyber Monday.
Josh Parshall, 21, of Fairfax, Va., was the overall winner in 16:43, pretty much destroying the field by running his 5K in a 5:24 mile pace.
Jennifer Brill, 26, of Washington, D.C., won the women’s race in 18:43. She was also third overall. Before the race, standing at the starting line looking like a possible winner, Jennifer said, “I think I can run 6-minute miles. I don’t know if that will be good enough to win.”
The men’s top five leaderboard following Parshall were Mack Despard in 18:31, Sean Garrett in 18:51, James Kelly in 18:53 and Bryan Mack in 18:56.
On the leaderboard for women after Brill were Wendy Kimmel in 20:50, Kelsey Kimmel in 21:04, Brooke Maryak in 21:27 and Meryl Ludwig in 21:30.
Gabriella Martha Vogel passed away on Sept. 11, 2011, at the age of 5, after being diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma. She was the youngest of three sisters. Go to getwellgabby.org to read Gabby’s story and see how you can help families battling childhood cancers.
There were 25 girls who ran in the 9 and under age group and another 23 boys. Brian Fleming won the boys’ U9 race in 24:59, while 7-year-old twins Weiler and Georgia Graham from Wallingford, Pa., were the first girls in 30:45.
Local connections: Izzie Delario, 21, just off her final field hockey season at UMass, ran 22:59. Meryl Ludwig, 50, a regular on the local scene, won her age group in 21:30. Luke Burton, 11, of Rehoboth won his age group in 19:50. Calvin Lawson, 19, ran 20:39. Kali Lawson, 11, ran 35:20.
Lance Fargo, triathlon national champion clydesdale, won the 50 and over male group in 20:45. Jules Woodall, 68, aka “Poppa JuJu,” won the 60-69 age group in 24:18. Paul “Skip” Keifer, 76, a 717 who races in the 302, won the 70 and over in 36:14.
A complete list of expanded results can be found at races2run.com.
