A group of runners on the final section of greenway, which was lit by luminaria (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)
Chris Horvat of Cleveland, Ohio, ran away with the first Summit Twilight 5K race in downtown Davidson Friday night, leading the pack of nearly 200 runners in a time of 15:11. The 26-year-old runner finished a minute and 1 second ahead of 15-year-old David Hager of Davidson. Stephanie Schauder, 19, of Huntersville topped the women, clocking 18:39.
A total of 188 runners finished the nighttime race, which was part of a series of events this month at Summit Coffee to raise money and awareness for the men’s health-focused Movember Foundation.
TOP FINISHERS
Horvat is a friend of Summit Coffee marketing chief Brian Helfrich and a former Division I college runner at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. He surprised Helfrich by driving down from Cleveland for the race Friday morning.
On Friday, there was nobody near him as he glided through the luminaria at the 2.5 mile mark and headed up South Street to the finish.
In the men’s race, the top 10 were as follows:
- Chris Horvat, 26, 15:11
- David Hager, 15, 16:12
- Stephan Snyder, 16, 17:48
- Patrick Braxton-Andrew, 27, 17:50
- Forrest Daugherty, 16, 17:54
- Paul Helms, 21, 18:07
- Chris Berl, 45, 18:10
- Robert Mayo, 22, 18:27
- Dheuris Rodriguez, 18, 18:32
- Martin Harrison, 49, 18:37
And the women’s top 10:
- Stephanie Schauder, 19, 18:39
- Anna Armistead, 20, 19:17
- Sarah Cline, 23, 19:33
- Claire Naisby, 21, 19:50
- Alexandra, Horst, 19, 19:51
- Rebecca MeKeever, 41, 20:16
- Chelsea Gordon, 18, 20:28
- Jill Rafiee, 36, 20:32
- Sydney Bowman, 15, 21:08
- Paulina Campbell, 17, 21:12
The 5K race began in the darkness at 6 p.m. on South Street, just a block up from the coffee shop in downtown Davidson. The course took runners through the streets of Davidson and onto the Southeast Greenway, which was lit by hundreds of luminaria. [The luminaria were assembled by student volunteers at Woodlawn School, where Summit proprietors Tim and Beth Helfrich both work.]
Afterward, runners and spectators headed over to the parking lot next to Summit, off South Main Street, for a festival that included music by Asheville-based singer Kellin Watson and other performers.
“Movember” was founded in Australia to raise awareness of men’s health. Tim and Brian Helfrich, who run Summit Coffee in downtown Davidson, decided to adopt the cause this month with a series of events. They and other Summit denizens also are growing mustaches – a tradition of Movember.
The Twilight 5K will be a test-run for what could become a series of Friday night 5K races at Summit in 2012. “Movember,” which will conclude at month’s end with another party at the coffee shop, this time coinciding with Christmas in Davidson.
More info on the Summit Facebook page.
RESULTS
Full results are available on QueenCityTiming.com.
PHOTO GALLERY
Runners leaned at the start on South Street at 6 pm. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)
Horrible lighting for a photographer, but the start of the Summit 5K produced an interesting scene - a wave of shadowy figures heading down South Street. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)
Kaela Frank of Davidson got into the spirit of Movember - when men are growing mustaches to promote awareness of men's health. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)
Dave and Ian Wessner. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)
Somewhere in that mass of ectoplasm is Summit Coffee owner Tim Helfrich. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)
