The Twin City Track Club was proud to have 683 runners register for the 2014 Beat the Heat 5k! The race served (again) as the NC USATF 5k Championships and this year the TCTC offered a $1,000 incentive to any USATF member and NC resident that could best the NC Open 5k USATF records of 14:07 (male: Scott Dvorak, 1997) and 15:50 (female: Laura Mykytok, 1994). With the deepest field in race history, race officials hoped the records would fall; however, as the leaders turned toward home for the long downhill finishing stretch, the pace car informed the crowd that a new record was not going to be set.
The 50-meter lead that Winston-Salem resident and world-class steeplechaser Donnie Cowart had built up at mile 2 began to dwindle as five-time Beat the Heat champion Bobby Mack and Duke med student Duriel Hardy of Durham pulled each other past Cowart with 200 meters to go. With a finish that came down to the wire, Hardy edged Mack with a time of 14:34, followed by Cowart in 14:37. On the women’s side, former Wake Forest runner Caitlin Bullock won handily in 16:42 over Saucony Hurricane runner Amanda LoPiccolo of Durham (17:11) and Zap Fitness runner Mary Ballinger (17:12) of Blowing Rock, North Carolina.
In the masters division, ultrarunner Jason Bryant showed his 5k prowess with a 17:06 win and Crazy Running founder Robyn Holland ran a solid 18:54 to take the women’s masters title. The grand masters also had a solid field as Winston-Salem speedster Don Blackmon ran a 19:24 and Mary Szymkowski of Cary collected the gold with a 23:29.
Over 80 TCTC volunteers registered, set up, fed, hydrated, directed (and redirected those looking for the tractor pull), parked, cheered, calculated and posted results, and cleaned up after a great crowd who came out to Beat the Heat on July 26. Mark your calendars for July 25, 2015, to come out and BEAT THE HEAT!
