A Fit and Fun Evening Run
NOVI (4/27/05) -- It was a practically-perfect Wednesday evening for a race. Two days earlier the area had been blanketed with eight inches of late-April snow. And just a few hours before Randy Step's starting "gun" ("Set. Go!') heavy skies delivered a gullywasher.

But by the first of three races at the 12th annual Fit 5K, skies had mostly cleared, with temperatures reaching the mid-40s. Runners were faced with a fairly-stiff breeze from the west.

"This year, we added two new races for kids," said Susan Hodgson from Running Fit stores. The nine-and-under crowd ran a bit short of half a mile, while the "Fast & Fit" mile was tailored for those 17 and under.

But the main event was the 5K, with proceeds going to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It attracted 159 runners, almost half (69) of whom were masters.

Joining the fun were Running 101 students from Running Fit's West Bloomfield and Novi stores. "Some are entering their first 5K," said Jane Sanders, who helped teach the five-week courses. They also faced that stiff headwind on their return.

Local masters stalwarts Tim Emmett, 49, and Alan VanMeter, 48, finished 1-2 in 17:52 and 18:16 respectively. Nineteen-year old Chad Maharian was third. Almost two minutes behind was Yoshito Tishler, who was eight seconds ahead of Anne Marie Phillips, the first master.

The top men and women overall and masters won free Saucony running shoes.

Chris Mauney, Hay Allie and Jeff Wilson finished 1-2-3 in the mile. The top nine-and-under finishers were Simrit Jhita, Noah Sullivan and Marcia Kornacki.

As runners milled around at the finish, a couple veterans groused about their "slow times." But before long, they agreed that for so early in the season, their times "aren't bad, aren't bad at all."

The well-organized Fit 5K was a good test of early-season fitness, and extra fun due to the ambiance unique to a midweek, evening run.

Results can be found at runningfit.com/results.cfm.

Ron Marinucci can be reached by e-mail at RMarin6424@aol.com.