Ashe County Harvest Run 5K - October 6, 2007

Race Logo
T-Shirt Artwork for the
Harvest Run 5K. 		Frieda hasn't done too many races this year; only three 5K runs since May.

When she found out about a 5K in West Jefferson, NC that was for the benefit of the Hospice of Ashe County, she thought that would be a good one to enter.

Norm hasn't been running at all (except to get across the busy streets in Boone where there are no pedestrian crossing signals) but he said he could walk the 5K and so he entered as well.

Early on the morning of October 6th, we headed out from Boone and found our way to the Ashe County Park where the race was being held.

The driving instructions on the entry form seemed simple enough, but some of the named intersections had no street signs. We had to stop at a country gas station for help so we wouldn't end up in West Virginia instead of West Jefferson.

Although this was a low-key event, Brendan O'Keefe who trains at ZAP Fitness chose the event for some speedwork.

Brendan has become one of the country's top 1500 meter runners with a personal best of 3:41.99 run in Palo Alto, California, last April. He cruised to a first place finish in the Harvest Run 5K in 15:21

His college running carrer at Brown University had been plagued with injuries but under the guidance of ZAP's head coach, Pete Rea, he took an entire year off from racing which enabled Brendan to train, as Pete describes it, "in a healthy manner."

Frieda and Brendan O'Keefe.
Frieda exchanging thoughts about running
related matters with Brendan O'Keefe.
Frieda and Norm
Frieda & Norm sporting award medals. 		As has been previously mentioned, Norm's stated intention was to walk the 5K.
(Since he regularly walks 5 Miles on the Cone Park Trails this seemed like a good idea and would be more fun than waiting around for Frieda to finish.)

Well - the outcome, after the race began, was predictable. Norm thought he might place in his age-group so he ran most of the way (excluding the steeper uphill sections).

He did finish 2nd in his age-group (out of 2) in 36:56, while Frieda was 3rd Woman and 9th Overall in a time of 22:43.

To view an overall finish list, click here.