EAST GRAND RAPIDS (6/25/05) - Heat and humidity tested fields at the 27th annual Standard Federal Bank Reeds Lake Runs.

One day after the National Weather Service recorded a record-high 92 degrees at Gerald R. Ford International Airport, runners gathered for the Saturday-morning 5K and 10K races with the mercury climbing into the mid-70s and humidity registering 69 percent.

Recreational racers braced to suffer through the miles. Masters runner Fred Colbert of Kalamazoo, filling out an entry form for both the 5K and 10K, recalled only one or two days of such brutal conditions in about 10 go-arounds in the Reeds Lake Run.

"The temperature's not bad now," Colbert said. "But it's going to heat up before we're done."

Even elite racers, trained to a high pitch of fitness, conceded the possibility of a lag. Jim Jurcevich, a Michigan State University graduate and veteran of two Olympic Trials at 10,000-meter and marathon distances, hoped to go under 30 minutes in the 10K. But he approached the race with caution.

"This weather could slow us down," he said.

A $10,000 purse, instituted in 2004 when Standard Federal picked up the event from the City of East Grand Rapids, attracted elite racers for the second-straight year. Prize money was on the line for both genders at both distances through fifth place; for the four masters winners; and for the first East Grand Rapids residents to finish. Three of the event's four record times in the overall classifications dated from last year.

The mercury stood at 74 degrees at 8 a.m., start time for the 5K. But a cloud bank, produced by the high humidity, kept direct sunlight off the racers. George Kirwa-Misoi, a Kenyan training in Chapel Hill, N.C., outdistanced the field to earn the $700 first-place prize. Kirwa-Misoi's 13:57 eclipsed the year-old course record by six seconds.

Jemima Jelagat-Sumgong, another Chapel Hill-based African, finished first among the women in 16:15, shattering the course record by 15 seconds.

Not all the 1,008 5K finishers ran as crisply as Kirwa-Misoi and Jelagat- Sumgong. Yet Colbert cut through the heavy air like a cheetah, stopping the clock at 19:26, second in his 50-54 age group. "That's the fastest I've done a 5K in about three years," he said.

By 9 a.m. the temperature stood at 76 degrees and rising. The sun was emerging from the clouds.

Spectator Neal Hanko of Wyoming stood at the corner of Breton and Hall streets, at about the four-mile mark for the 10K, anxious for racers in the second race to come by. He could hardly wait to catch a glimpse of the feline grace of elite competitors. "It's a beautiful thing to watch," Hanko said.

Soon the flashing lights of police cruisers signaled the approach of a lead pack composed of Kyle Baker of Grand Rapids, Jacob Frey of Rochester Hills, Michael Musili of Milton, Ont., Stephen Muturi of Rochester, and Matt Thull of Milwaukee. Jurcevich labored past the corner about a minute behind.

The lead pack broke up in the final two miles, spitting out Baker and Frey to test each other's mettle in a final sprint. Baker snatched an extra $200, the difference in prize money between first and second places, by outkicking Frey in the last few strides.

Baker's 30:22 chip time lagged behind the course record by more than a minute.

Jelagat-Sumgong proved the hottest racer of the day, not to mention the highest-paid in prize money, by winning the 10K to go with her 5K championship. Her time of 34:36, about two minutes slower than her personal best, missed the course record by two seconds.

She said afterwards she ran slowly because she had no one to push her. But she didn't mind the weather at all. "It was nice here," Jelagat- Sumgong said.

Some of the 657 10K finishers might have contradicted her. Jurcevich, eighth overall in 31:57, took home no prize money. "It's definitely warm," he said. "The heat draws your fitness out of you."

He enjoyed his first go-around in the Reeds Lake Run nonetheless. Jurcevich got a particular kick out of playing spectator for the 5K.

"It's nice to come here and get a look at another race," he said.

Complete results available online at michiganrunner.net. MR