Capital City Champ Goes Extra Half Mile
LANSING (9/24/06) - He may have run the longest 10 miles in the history of the 14th annual Capital City River Run, but Jason Jaloszynski still triumphed by two minutes.

"The (lead) biker took a wrong turn at the five-mile turn-around," remembered Jaloszynski, 28, of Clio. "I noticed there weren't any arrows on the road, so I whistled at the biker, we turned around and got back on course. I probably ended up running an extra half-mile."

Jaloszynski finished in 54:49, with masters champ Eric Stuber, 43, of Haslett, second (56:50) and Tim O'Hara, 22, of East Lansing third (59:54).

"It was a nice, cool day with a sprinkle or two of rain," Jaloszynski said. "I enjoyed the race."

A downpour pummeled runners just before the start of 10-mile and 5K races, but after that conditions were perfect for running. All events were run on the Lansing River Trail, with starts and finishes at the Impression 5 Science Center, which hosts the race.

Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero was on hand at the start of the 10-mile, and Michigan First Gentleman Dan Mulhern competed.

"Dan has run this race many times," race director Dick Miles said. "He's a very good advocate for running and fitness."

Marybeth Reader, 37, of West Bloomfield, won the women's 10-mile race in a personal-record 1:01:58. Shannon Stanglewicz, 22, of Lansing, was second (1:07:12). Beth Homan, 42, of Haslett (1:07:27) held off Gayle Kuipers, 41, of Holland (1:07:46) for the masters title.

Reader impressed women's 5K winner Laurie Decker, 47, of Cadillac. "She's awesome," Decker said. "She is not just a good runner, she is also a good ambassador for running.

"Marybeth is dynamite," Decker said.

Decker was explosive herself, breaking 19 minutes for the first time in a couple years with an 18:43. "I told my husband I was going to bust 19 today and I did," she said.

Claire Mull, 33, of Lansing, was second in 20:40 and Sarah Murdoch, 13, of Dewitt, third in 20:57.

Jerome Recker, 23, of Lansing, was men's 5K winner in 15:59. Next came last year's champion, Patrick Wehrman, 25, of Pinkney (16:20) and this year's masters champ, Tim Lambredit, 44, of Alma (17:24).

Recker, a Saginaw Valley State University graduate, recently moved to Lansing. "Every race I've been in here has been awesome," he said. "At this one, they had a band playing at the starting line and a big turnout. It was great."

Emily Caskey of Lansing, niece of veteran race managers John and Anne Gault, ran her first-ever 5K. "All I wanted to do was beat the first 10-miler to the finish. I did," she said.

More than 900 runners competed in two races. Another 100 children ran the quarter-mile Slime Dash and the Smile Mile.

Complete race results are available at www.ccriverrun.org All proceeds went to the Impression 5 Science Center (www.impression5.org). MR