Locals run their hearts out at Wheatfield event

Just 40 seconds separated the two.

Vandervlugt finished with a time of 29 minutes and 14 seconds for top honors.

Remington clocked in at 29:54 for second and Jeff Traphold took third with 32:51.

Clark Bryant (37:27), Erick Haynie (38:51), Ken Kendall (38:58), Ronald Harper (42:17), Nathan Heideman (48:55), Benjamin Hoey (48:56) and Steve Floth (53:22) rounded out the top-10.

In the women’s 8k run, Anne Anderson scored first place in 38:07 in another close finish, besting Pam Eineicher (38:43) by 36 seconds.

Brandie McNamee placed third in 42:55, Tina Dickson ended up in fourth place with a (42:55) and Michelle Fry (45:06) notched fifth place.

Sheila Burchell (46:23), Yvonne Pepin-Wakefield (49:15), Keri Heideman (49:47), Cindy Berkshire (49:56) and Susan Billette (51:30) were all good for a top-10 outcome.

According to race organizer Bob Thouvenel, the Wheatfield Half Marathon has been going on since the late 1990s, started by Heidi and Greg Gustafson.

In the early years, it was run mid-March with cooler weather and brief snow flurries the first few years.

“When I took over, for whatever reason, I moved the race to the last weekend of March, hoping for warmer weather,” Thouvenel said.

In the last three years, Thouvenel said the race participants have grown by 25 runners and walkers up to nearly 200 last year.

Martinez, Maia Vandervlugt lead

There were 15 athletes signed up for the 3k race and all but three turned in times less than 30 minutes.

Luis Martinez picked up the pace for his efforts in the 3k in a final time of 12:14 for first place in the men’s class.

Paul Kelly grabbed second place in 16:24, Blayne Eineishner scored third place at 20:39, Blake Willis was good for fourth place in 21:37 and Nate Matthews hustled to fifth place in a solid 25:42.

On the women’s side, Maia Vandervlugt lapped the field for first place with her mark of 14:16.

Mikayla Kelly and Riley Brewer were right behind in 17:43 and Dez Remington finished fourth with a time of 18:52.

Grace Willis (22:16), Nancy Matthews (26:06), Dianne Kerr (29:59), Caroline Haynie (31:32), Georgia Haynie (31:33) and Dianne Level (31:33) capped the group of nine women.

“Overall, the times were pretty consistent with previous years,” Thouvenel said of the numbers put out.

Top racers go the long distance

While 67 racers went to work in the shorter distances, there were 50 penciled in for heavy work in the half marathon.

Taking top honors in the women’s race was Madeleine Sellers with a time of 1:41.37, nearly four minutes better than second-place runner Heather McFadden (1:45.54).

Bobbie Napoli secured third place in 1:46.22, Erin Kovalchuk placed fourth with a time of 1:47.30 and Nicole Bassett ended up fifth at 1:50.33.

Haylee Farrar (1:52.55), Anne Buck (1:55.57), Sarah Woodward-Pratt (1:58.10), Julie Burghard (2:04.06) and Amanda Hoey (2:09.02) all were solid enough for placings in the top-10.

Gary Daubenspeck won the men’s half marathon in 1:24.11, with the most lopsided time difference in any of the three races – 11:57 ahead of Sid Ganders (1:36.08).

Dakota Len (1:37.57), Ken Croteau (1:38.42) and Darryl Houghtelling (1:45.12) capped the top-5.

Ken McFadden grabbed sixth place in 1:49.26, Rob Oster ended up seventh with a mark of 1:49.27 and Dan Rundgren scored eighth place at 1:51.18.

Paul Brodie (1:52.10), Jason Morales (1:54.33), Woodrow Howell (1:55.37), Bryan Mears (1:59.15), Ken Andrews (1:59.33), Andrew Grossman (1:59.48), Joshua Boone (2:00.10) and Porter Cooper (2:11.43) rounded out the top-16 men.

This event is a fundraiser for The Dalles Cross Country team.

All money raised goes toward equipment upgrades, travel costs and others fees incurred.

For more information on future race events or to donate to TDHS, call Thouvenel at 541-298-1119.