The Carolina Sports Medicine Battleship NC Half Marathon & Bay Six Battleship 5K Results
By Ed Fore
The Carolina Sports Medicine Battleship NC Half Marathon & Bay Six Battleship 5K was a huge success. We had participants from 27 states with 1,227 in the Carolina Sports Medicine Half Marathon and 537 registered in the Bay Six 5K which were both records. We had 69 Walkers in the half marathon and are very proud of that fact.
Considering what I have been reading in the papers lately about other events, I figure we brought in about 50 billion dollars to the city. Hey, I swear, Man… Ok, maybe it was three or four million, but it was a bunch if you think in those terms and it was a great race, which is the terms that I think in.
In the Half Marathon local UNCW (and former Hoggard HS) runner Aaron Kolk won for the males, Jennifer Medlewzewski from Durham won for the 4th time in the last 5 years, and local favorite Melanie Lenk got 2nd. We gave away 6 pairs of Asics Shoes thanks to Omega Sports and 6 pairs of New Balance shoes thanks to New Balance of Wilmington. We gave away a total of four 1-year memberships to Golds Gym to our Mid-pack M/F in each race (Robert Thompson and Melissa Fallis in the 5K – Russ Lane and Janet Rall in the half), four kegs of Budweiser to everyone, and dozens of nice trophies
to runners in the various age groups. We were in turn given fantastic weather by the Running Gods.
The 5K male winner, Devon Dixon, is a UNCW athlete and cannot accept prizes so I awarded his free pair of New Balance running shoes to Melanie Lenk for 2nd Overall female in the Half Marathon. Mel is a teacher’s aid looking to be a teacher, New Hanover HS x-country coach, and will use those shoes to
the fullest. The Jim Ritch award of a free 1-year membership to the Wilmington YMCA went to Laura Griffin and an as yet to be selected male. I’ve mailed out checks totaling over $20,000 to our race benefactors, including $9,000 to the Battleship Restoration fund, $4,500 to the YMCA, $3,000 to the Leukemia Society TNT, and other lesser amounts to various local charities. That’s the best part of putting on the race to me.
Thanks to our great volunteers and the staff of the Battleship Memorial. This race could not happen without dedicated volunteer help. New groups volunteering in exchange for donations were the Cape Fear Literacy Council, Ashley HS varsity soccer team, Vietnam Veterans of America – Chapter 885 (my
chapter), and the Teaching Fellows from UNCW.
I have about 25 improvement items to incorporate into the race plan, and hope to do a better job coordinating a World Class Event for you next year, but all things considered, I’m very proud of how the race went and of everyone who helped and ran. It was a beautiful day and event and I’ll remember it for years.
We’re still looking at race date for next year. The B2B Iron Distance needs our weekend since the tides aren’t right for them otherwise, so I am cooperating with them and relinquishing our weekend to them. Ain’t I a great guy???? The answer is “Yes”. Our race will most likely be the first weekend in November in 2009, but it could be the 3rd – to be decided soon.
Results at www.setupevents.com
Photos at www.brightroom.com
