Spectrum Health Irish Jig
Lindsey Gallo, 24, of Ann Arbor, edges Bethany Brewster, 26, of Madison, Wisc., for the first-place $600 women's pot o' gold at Spectrum Health Irish Jig.

EAST GRAND RAPIDS (3/18/06) - Most road racers spend their winters building a base, avoiding speedwork and using mid-March 5Ks to shake off rust.

You wouldn't know it, though, from results of the 23rd annual Spectrum Health Irish Jig. All four course records (open and masters men and women) fell on this cold, clear morning.

Last year, in miserably slippery conditions, Boaz Cheboiywo won in 15:14. Some speculated on how fast he could have gone on a clear, dry road. This year they found out.

Cheboiywo, 27, a former NCAA track and cross country champion for Eastern Michigan University, fought off the 20-degree conditions by going out hard. He led wire-to-wire en route to a race record 14:18, breaking Paul McMullen's 2004 mark of 14:41.

"I went 4:28 (for the first mile) and I came back with a 9:02 (two-mile split), so I felt pretty good," said the Kenya native, who now calls Ypsilanti home. "The weather was perfect, except the air was very dry."

Runner-up Grant Robison (14:37) chased Cheboiywo early. "He started moving, so I went with him," said the Stanford graduate and 2004 Olympian at 1500 meters. "Then I realized he was really going to make a move, so I just ran comfortably and went hard the last mile."

Robison, 27, moved to Michigan after completing a stellar collegiate career in Palo Alto. He said he was elated get back into road racing after a long layoff.

"It's nice to have fun again," said Robison. "I haven't raced well in so long. I love road racing. My time was plenty good as well."

Rounding out the top five were Ian Forsyth, 33, of Ann Arbor (14:40), Steven Crane, 24, of Ypsilanti (14:41), and Nathan Usher, 23, of Lansing (14:48).

Photo: Matt Hassenrik (left), of Grand Rapids, and Josh Terpstra, of Holland, celebrate all things Irish after joining 2,038 finishers at the Spectrum Health Irish Jig.

Not far behind was masters champion Paul Aufdemberge of Redford. The 41-year-old smashed the previous masters course record (15:19 by Mike Scannell in 2004) with his 15:05, good for eighth place overall.

"I felt all right," said Aufdemberge of his race. "I had thoughts about trying to stay near the front, but Nick Stanko (the 2005 Michigan Runner of the Year, who finished ninth) took a spill going around the second turn, and I had to go around him. At that point we kind of fell into a second pack.

"Overall, I'm pretty happy. It's a good workout and a fun race."

The first woman across the line was Lindsey Gallo, 24, of Ann Arbor. The former University of Michigan standout anchored the Wolverines' distance medley relay team to a national indoor title in 2005 and boasts a mile PR of 4:37.

Gallo used that speed to her advantage in edging former Wisconsin standout and Michigan native Bethany Brewster, 26.

"The start was a little too fast for me, so I hung back a bit," Gallo said. "With about 400 meters to go there was a small downhill, and I decided to kick. I let the momentum take me in."

Gallo's kick was barely enough to top Brewster. Both women were timed in 16:33, breaking Betsy Frens's 2003 course record by eight seconds.

Two more Ann Arbor women finished next. Laurel Park, 42, held off Monica Joyce, 47, by five seconds, 17:18 to 17:23, for the female masters crown, breaking the 17:25 record both had shared.

"I could see the leaders," Park said. "There was a point where I thought I could work up to them, but they took off and then I had to worry about who was behind me. You never put Monica away; you always have her in the back of your mind."

One person who didn't have to worry about who was behind him was Cheboiywo. The diminutive Kenyan ranked second in the world this year at the indoor 3,000 meters after winning the Tyson Invitational Feb. 11 in a PR 7:35.65. He explained his decision to return to the Irish Jig, which boasts a modest $600 first-place prize, as an opportunity to market the sport to state running fans.

"If you leave Michigan (for higher-profile races), people here don't see you. I want to run with the fans," he said.

The people certainly saw Cheboiywo at the Jig. A total of 2,038 runners and walkers completed the race, the most since it was moved to its current location from downtown Grand Rapids in 2003.

Fast times were not limited to the elite runners, either: 15 of the 28 Irish Jig age-group records were broken on the day.

Complete results are available online at michiganrunner.net/results/ searchable.html. MR