Keyser Kiwanis Breakfast Club 21st Annual Independence 5K Run Shreve, Sober free of field

Shreve, Sober free of field
Runners get early start to Independence Day weekend festivities

By Kevin Spradlin
TriStateRunnur.com

KEYSER, W.Va., July 3 - Runners got an early start to Independence Day weekend party with a flat 5K road race on an unseasonably cool early Saturday morning in Keyser.

Ryan Shreve and Jen Sober led the field of 100 runners with impressive wins. Each runner posted a commanding lead over the second-place runner in their gender’s competitive division in the 21st annual edition of the July 4 footrace.

Shreve, 19, stopped the clock with a winning time of 17 minutes and 27 seconds. Former Keyser High School teammate Taven Rohrbaugh, 17, of Burlington, was second in 17:53. John Burgess, 34, finished one minute behind Rohrbaugh for third place and Bradford Deel, 47, was fourth overall and first masters with a time of 18:55.

Sober, 37, of McHenry, was just two seconds behind Deel (18:57) and finished fifth overall. Sober averaged 6:06 per mile.

Amy Rowan, 30, of Cumberland, finished second in the women’s standings in 20:00. Mary Jane Baniak, 37, was third in 21:54 and Megan Hamilton, 33, was fourth in 22:23.

Cumberland resident Paula Bridges, 44, was first masters woman in 22:52 and placed sixth in the women’s standings and 31st overall.