Youth be served
Nick Edinger and Danica Snyder don't like running in the heat.
It didn't show Saturday morning at the 38th annual Butler Road Race.
Both persevered through the sun beaming down on the hot pavement during the 5-mile race and walked away as champions.
Josh Jones, a 16-year-old Butler native who goes to Slippery Rock High, earned first place overall in the 2-kilometer race, while Butler's 13-year-old Erin Lemay was tops among the girls.
Competing — and walking away with hardware — has become a habit for Snyder, a Butler graduate. Edinger, a Mars grad, ran in the event for the first time.
Snyder also won the women's division last year, finishing ahead of 10-time champion Tammy Slusser for the second consecutive year. Snyder, a 20-year-old runner for Duquesne University, was the 2-kilometer winner two years ago.
“I'm pretty seasoned to this race and I really love it. It's such a great event,” said Snyder, who finished in 31 minutes, 28 seconds. “Anytime you can come out and run for Butler, and being a Butler grad, it's a great opportunity.”
Edinger, who recently graduated from Geneva College and holds five school records, was the first to cross the finish line and did so with a time of 26:12.
“It felt good. That act of breaking the tape is always fun,” said Edinger. “You don't get to do that very often in college because there's really competitive races. Breaking the tape is always pretty sweet. It's a classic feeling.”
Edinger trailed Ryan Boccabella of North Huntingdon by one second halfway through the race, but pulled away to claim his first Butler Road Race crown by 24 seconds over second-place finisher Chris Grooms of Butler.
“Just after the turnaround, the kid that was right with me for the first half of the race dropped off,” said Edinger. “I just had to keep pushing and I knew I had it.“I kind of had it in my mind that the hill coming into the finish would be hard, but it was even harder than I thought,” he added. “It's tough mentally to push yourself when you're finishing on a hill.”Although she was the defending champion, Snyder wasn't convinced she would claim another title.“I was honestly very unsure going into today because I've had some little complications after my outdoor track season, so I had to take a longer break than I expected to. I actually just got back into training,” Snyder explained. “I didn't know what was going to happen today, but it ended up working in my favor being well rested and coming into it fresh.”The presence of Slusser was a source of motivation.“I knew she was going to be my competition coming into this,” said Snyder. “Her and I were pretty close. … She definitely pushed me. I owe her a lot of credit for that.”She didn't go home with her 11th victory, but Slusser, 48, of Monroeville was happy to drop some time off last year's performance.“I was about five or six seconds faster than last year,” said Slusser. “When you're my age, that's always a plus.”Jones and Lemay both thought the end of the race was the most difficult part of the 2K, but each had a different reason.Jones was the first runner to cross the finish line at 6:25, while Lemay finished 13th overall at 7:48.
“It always feels good when you look ahead and don't see anyone ahead of you,” said Jones. “You can just focus on your own race and run it with what you know you can do, pace yourself and push it.“It's a scary feeling to think of someone coming up that you can't see behind you and passing you,” he added. “It helps you push yourself harder to keep going. Coming in the last stretch. That's when you start to feel it and need to push it the hardest.”Lemay finished the race among a flurry of runners, which made it the most difficult aspect.“It felt pretty good to win,” said Lemay. “The finish (was the toughest), whenever all the guys are trying to pass you.”Picking her favorite part of the race was easy.“Probably making funny faces at my dad,” she said with a laugh.The races started on time and went smoothly. The only trouble occurred while trying to dole out awards for each age group in the 5-mile race. A problem occurred with the computers and official results weren't immediately available, which shortened the post-race award ceremony, but the issue was corrected later that day.“I think it went well today, except for we had this computer glitch at the end,” said Butler Road Race director Mike Blessel, who started working with the event in 1981. “From a logistical point of view, everything went like clockwork.“We take pride in making sure it starts out on time and all of those details go fine. We like to think quality is our trademark.”
Blessel was thankful the heat didn't cause any major ill effects for the runners.“A lot of times I expect some problems with the heat with runners at the finish line, but honestly, I didn't see any of that,” he said.The weather didn't cause any mishaps, but that doesn't mean the runners didn't feel it, though.“The heat affects every runner. Every runner gets worse in the heat,” said Edinger. “Sometimes, I feel it's worse for me. I never race well in the heat, but it was still good to pull out the win today despite the heat.”“I definitely felt it on Alameda Road,” Snyder admitted. “On the parts that weren't shaded, you just kind of bake in that sun. I was taking water every chance I could get, just dousing myself. I'm not much of a heat runner, so I was worried.”She prevailed in the end, though, and hopes to keep her title as long as possible.“We'll see how many wins I can pull out,” said Snyder. “I would love to keep it going and make it an annual tradition.”
