Kids & clowns line up for the 1 mile start at the Zanglin Downriver Run
TRENTON (6/17/05) - Since coming to America from Romania two years ago, Denisa Costescu has done little but win.

The 26-year-old, who now lives in Wixom, continued that trend by claiming at the 23rd annual Zanglin Downriver 8K Run.

Last year Costescu won 28 races. Zanglin marked her 10th triumph so far this year.

Costescu and her husband, 1996 Romanian Olympian Ovidiu Olteanu, originally hail from Transylvania. "We have to run fast because of all the vampires there," Olteanu joked.

Bats or no bats, Costescu flew through the 8K in 28:16. The victory ended the two-year winning streak of Rebekah Smeltzer, 16, of Monroe, runnerup this year in 29:37. Next came Valari Ambrose, 38, of Wyandotte, in 30:21.

Kim Bruce-Bumbul, 42, of St. Petersburg, Fla., was the masters champ (33:17).

Costescu's 28:16 was the fastest time run by a woman on this course since Laurel Park clocked 27:58 in 1997. "It was perfect weather for a race," Costescu said.

The cool, 60-degree evening aided many in their quests for fast times.
The cool, 60-degree evening aided many in their quests for fast times. You have to go back to Paul Aufdemberge's 23:38 in 1990 to find a better effort than the 24:11 Steven Crane ran claiming this year's men's race.

Aufdemberge, 40, of Redford, entered this year's race with six Zanglin wins in the last eight years. Last year, he topped Crane, 23, of Ypsilanti, by 12 seconds.

"This year, he (Crane) turned the tables on me," said Aufdemberge. "He kicked with about a quarter-mile to go and I couldn't quite match his leg- turnover."

Crane, an Eastern Michigan University alumni, edged Aufdemberge by two seconds. Todd Mobley, 24, of Washington, D.C., came in third at 25:20.

Crane warmed up for the 8K by winning the 7:30 p.m. Zanglin mile. Renee Baril, 17, a senior-to-be at Utica High School, was the firwoman in the mile.

The Island Road Runners hosted Zanglin Downriver Run. Jim Zanglin was race chairman and Eve Howell race director.

To learn more about this race, go to www.zanglinrun.com. MR