Tri State
Byrne leads by example, burns field in first Race for the Nation 5K
By Kevin Spradlin
Tristaterunnur.com
Results Photos
CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. – Matt Byrne has a goal to “toughen up the Philly boys” he trains with in the Philadelphia Track Club.
Those in his charge can rest assured he’s leading by example. The 33-year-old Scranton, Pa., native led 136 competitors to the finish line on Saturday at the 1st annual Race for the Nation 5K in Chambersburg. Byrne was the first to receive a congratulatory handshake from race starter and 1964 Olympic Gold Medalist Billy Mills after stopping the clock in 15 minutes, 32.6 seconds.
Former Wheeling Jesuit University standout Matt Abel, 26, of Wheeling, W.Va., was second in 16:00.5 and Army National Guard runner Troy Harrison, 32, of Hustontown, Pa., was third in 16:03.
Twenty-nine-year-old Sarah Boward, of Fayetteville, Pa., led the women’s 56-runner field in 19:40.9. Shayna Weir, 22, of Chambersburg, was second in 20:54.7 followed by Amanda Turner, 36, of Gettysburg, Pa., in 21:13.7.
Chambersburg’s Tim Schuler won the men’s masters title in 16:34.2 while Karen Abbamonte, of Boonsboro, Md., took the women’s masters tiara in 21:20.7.
Did Byrne, a two-time Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier in 2004 and 2008, get any advice from Bills? Perhaps. But as with everyone else, he admitted afterward he would have liked more time with Mills.
Byrne said he didn’t have long to stop for a conversation, even a motivational one with Mills. That’s because Byrne, a first-time member of the U.S. Mountain Running Team, is scheduled to fly to Switzerland and compete Sept. 13-14 for the World Mountain Running Trophy. This year’s trophy races are designated as “uphill only” races.
On Saturday, Byrne didn’t have to worry about any steep inclines or sharp turns. That, along with an overcast sky, were factors Abel and Harrison competing doggedly for the second spot in the final standings.
“I got a little workout,” Byrne said in what he called his final tune-up before heading overseas. “You never know, though. There’s talent out there. I didn’t take it lightly.”
He had little reason to be concerned. It was clear after the first mile that Harrison and Abel were fighting for second place. Harrison said the out-and-back course had “lots of gradual hills..”
“It looks flat but it’s actually pretty challenging,” said Harrison, who is preparing to compete in the U.S. Air Force Half-Marathon in Dayton, Ohio Sept. 20 and the Detroit Free Press Marathon on Oct. 19.
It wasn’t necessarily all about in what place runners finished. The ultimate goal, said race director Chris Pereschuk, was to raise money for the Chambersburg Steelers Youth Football team and the Southwest Indian Foundation’s Housing program.
There are more than 500 tribal nations in the U.S., Mills told an inspired audience on the eve of the race inside the Chambersburg Area Middle School gymnasium. Unemployment rates hit up to 80 percent. Mills, an orphaned Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Native American from Pine Ridge, South Dakota, faced a series of personal hardships before experiencing success on the track in high school, college and, ultimately, in the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
For more on the U.S. Mountain Running Team, visit www.usmrt.com..
For more on Matt Byrne, visit www.phillytc.com and click on “bios,” then “athletes”
For more on Billy Mills, elected to the National Distance Running Hall of Fame in 1999, visit www.runningpast.com/billy_mills.htm or www.indianyouth.org. Readers also can check out this Sports Illustrated interview conducted during the 2008 Beijing Olympics at http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/olympics/2008/07/01/mills.cuw/
By Kevin Spradlin
Tristaterunnur.com
Results Photos
CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. – Matt Byrne has a goal to “toughen up the Philly boys” he trains with in the Philadelphia Track Club.
Those in his charge can rest assured he’s leading by example. The 33-year-old Scranton, Pa., native led 136 competitors to the finish line on Saturday at the 1st annual Race for the Nation 5K in Chambersburg. Byrne was the first to receive a congratulatory handshake from race starter and 1964 Olympic Gold Medalist Billy Mills after stopping the clock in 15 minutes, 32.6 seconds.
Former Wheeling Jesuit University standout Matt Abel, 26, of Wheeling, W.Va., was second in 16:00.5 and Army National Guard runner Troy Harrison, 32, of Hustontown, Pa., was third in 16:03.
Twenty-nine-year-old Sarah Boward, of Fayetteville, Pa., led the women’s 56-runner field in 19:40.9. Shayna Weir, 22, of Chambersburg, was second in 20:54.7 followed by Amanda Turner, 36, of Gettysburg, Pa., in 21:13.7.
Chambersburg’s Tim Schuler won the men’s masters title in 16:34.2 while Karen Abbamonte, of Boonsboro, Md., took the women’s masters tiara in 21:20.7.
Did Byrne, a two-time Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier in 2004 and 2008, get any advice from Bills? Perhaps. But as with everyone else, he admitted afterward he would have liked more time with Mills.
Byrne said he didn’t have long to stop for a conversation, even a motivational one with Mills. That’s because Byrne, a first-time member of the U.S. Mountain Running Team, is scheduled to fly to Switzerland and compete Sept. 13-14 for the World Mountain Running Trophy. This year’s trophy races are designated as “uphill only” races.
On Saturday, Byrne didn’t have to worry about any steep inclines or sharp turns. That, along with an overcast sky, were factors Abel and Harrison competing doggedly for the second spot in the final standings.
“I got a little workout,” Byrne said in what he called his final tune-up before heading overseas. “You never know, though. There’s talent out there. I didn’t take it lightly.”
He had little reason to be concerned. It was clear after the first mile that Harrison and Abel were fighting for second place. Harrison said the out-and-back course had “lots of gradual hills..”
“It looks flat but it’s actually pretty challenging,” said Harrison, who is preparing to compete in the U.S. Air Force Half-Marathon in Dayton, Ohio Sept. 20 and the Detroit Free Press Marathon on Oct. 19.
It wasn’t necessarily all about in what place runners finished. The ultimate goal, said race director Chris Pereschuk, was to raise money for the Chambersburg Steelers Youth Football team and the Southwest Indian Foundation’s Housing program.
There are more than 500 tribal nations in the U.S., Mills told an inspired audience on the eve of the race inside the Chambersburg Area Middle School gymnasium. Unemployment rates hit up to 80 percent. Mills, an orphaned Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Native American from Pine Ridge, South Dakota, faced a series of personal hardships before experiencing success on the track in high school, college and, ultimately, in the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
For more on the U.S. Mountain Running Team, visit www.usmrt.com..
For more on Matt Byrne, visit www.phillytc.com and click on “bios,” then “athletes”
For more on Billy Mills, elected to the National Distance Running Hall of Fame in 1999, visit www.runningpast.com/billy_mills.htm or www.indianyouth.org. Readers also can check out this Sports Illustrated interview conducted during the 2008 Beijing Olympics at http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/olympics/2008/07/01/mills.cuw/
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Tina and John Macklen
Matt Byrne
Sarah Boward
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