Women’s Distance Festival 5K 2 for Gruber; McDaniel College graduate wins WDF 5K again

By Kevin Spradlin
TriStateRunnur.com

WESTMINSTER, Md., July 11 – Two seconds do not a difference make.

Kelly Gruber, 2008 winner of the Women’s Distance Festival 5K – Union Mills Homestead style – ran two seconds slower on Sunday compared to her winning time two years ago.

It hardly mattered. The 26-year-old Walkersville resident’s clocking of 20 minutes and 36 seconds – run in Vibram five-toed shoes – easily outdistanced the rest of the intimate field of the Road Runners Club of America series that celebrates women’s right to participate in running events – at any distance and at any age. Gruber’s performance in 2009 was nearly two minutes faster than in 2007 (3rd overall, 22:29).

Robin Goodwin, the 2009 champ, was second in 21:36. Kristin Hadden was third in 22:07. It was Gruber’s first race since April 19, when she was second female in the Mountain Maryland Half Marathon in Cumberland.

The event, one of 12 of the Maryland Women’s Distance Festival Grand Prix Series, is sponsored by the Maryland RRCA and participating clubs. Sunday’s run was staged by Liuda Galinaitis and the Westminster Road Runners Club.
RRCA Women’s Distance Festival