Jake Kildoo used the 35th annual Butler Road Race Saturday as a tempo run.

But if someone wanted to give him a first-place trophy, Kildoo wouldn't turn it down.

The Grove City runner bested the 5-mile field with a time of 26 minutes, 20 seconds, which was 26 seconds ahead of Ben Hutterer, 21, of Saxonburg.

"I'm merely two weeks into my summer training," said Kildoo, 16. "This is the best I've done. Last year, I finished (26:39), but I had already been doing my summer training earlier."

Kildoo finished second last year to three-time champion Jake Walker, who just wrapped up his collegiate career at Notre Dame.

Owen Venesky, 19, of Cabot (27:27), Jacob Morrida, 19, of Beaver (28:25) and Grant Baron, 18, of Butler (28:41) round out the top five finishers.

Kildoo, who captured the District 10 Class AAA championship in the 3,200-meter run and was fourth at the PIAA meet this spring for Grove City High, opened up an early lead and didn't relent.

"At the halfway point, one gentleman was not too far behind," Kildoo said. "I sensed that (Hutterer) was closing in, but I didn't know how much kick I had. I was just hoping I could pull away.

"I sensed it would be between the both of us, that he'd be the only one within striking distance," Kildoo added.

With the warm, humid weather, Kildoo tried to take early steps to get himself going.

"Not that the heat doesn't help out, but I tried to stay hydrated in the morning as soon as I got out of bed," said Kildoo. "I was sucking down water.

"There was a nice shady area (on Alameda), but when we came to about the 3½- to 4-mile mark, we were in the sun and then the whole way up.

"The heat affected me adversely. I thought I was going to throw up, but I had to envision keeping it down. It wasn't too bad though," he added.

In the women's race, Veronica Bujdos of Indiana, Pa., who placed third in 2009, had an easier go of it this year, winning with a time of 30:41.

Bujdos, 16, easily outdistanced runner-up Lisa Chilcote, 39, of Oakmont by 1:14 (31:55).

Leslie Kramer, 33, of Slippery Rock (32:22), Tammy Slusser, 45, of Monroeville (33:13) and Jolene Kunkel, 17, of Saxonburg (33:14) finished third through fifth, respectively.

Despite the heat, Bujdos found a way to keep up a winning pace.

"It seemed like it was extra humid at the top of the hill," Bujdos. "I kind of cooled down in the valley of the road, then it got warm again when I came up the hill."

Bujdos wanted to better her time from last year (31:02), which she did.

"That was cool, but I thought I could run it a little bit faster. I just wanted to try and stay with those guys."

Bujdos, who will be a junior at Indiana High, finished 20th overall while Chilcote was 28th.

"I saw (Chilcote) at the turnaround, but I didn't know where she was after that because I don't like to turn back.

"I wasn't sure how close she was — they were cheering for both of us," said Bujdos, who had been counting on her fall cross country training to prepare for the race.

"We've been practicing about three times a week," said Bujdos. "We've been working a lot of hill, but not like these long hills."

Notes: Scott Muska, 24, of Saxonburg was honored with a plaque as the 25,000 finisher in the 35-year history of the Butler Road Race.