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BY PAUL JANKOWSKI
Times Correspondent | Tuesday, May 10, 2005 | (No comments posted.)
RUNNING: OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon
Of the more than 25,000 finishers, 198 were from Valparaiso
A 12-year-old boy and one of Porter County's top female runners helped inspire Leo Frey to a personal-best time in Saturday's OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon in Indianapolis.
Frey, 38, was the first of 198 finishers from Valparaiso in the 13.1-mile race that is billed as the nation's largest half marathon. Registration for the race was capped at 30,000 late last year, and there were 25,028 finishers with 323 from the Vidette-Times readership area.
Frey's time was 1 hour, 24 minutes, 28 seconds, which placed him 196th overall.
Not far behind him was Karen Nagel of Valpo, 268th overall in 1:26:11.
Nagel is a three-time winner of Valpo's Ringing In Spring 5K race, held at the beginning of April. And she's a former Popcorn Panic winner.
Frey spotted her during the loop around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, about the halfway point of the race.
"She's one of my gauge points," said Frey, a 1984 Valpo High graduate who ran on the Vikings' 1983 state champion cross country team. "I saw Karen up there on the track, so then I kind of dropped the hammer and passed her going down one of the straightaways.
"Then I locked into a 12-year-old kid, and didn't pass him until the last mile. He ran well and never slowed down -- he was good."
The 12-year-old was Nicholas Whitten of Bargersville, Ind., who finished just behind Frey, 207th overall in 1:24:45.
This was Frey's first Indy Mini, and he beat his old half marathon PR by 18 seconds. A long-time area runner who also competed for Valparaiso University, Frey formerly owned Leo's Bike Shop and had trouble fitting the race into his work schedule.
"It's awesome, jut to go out and run out on the track," he said. "How many people get to do that?
"They did a fantastic job. It's a nice course, and it's kind of like running the Chicago (Marathon) or anywhere else for a marathon."
Among other local finishers, Chesterton's Sam Langley was 182nd in 1:23:58, while Brian Norrick of Hebron was 192nd in 1:24:18.
About 110 of the area finishers are affiliated with the Opportunity Enterprises' marathon team and running program. OE provided a tent in the finish area for local runners and their families.
"We had a great turnout," said Stephanie Anderson, OE's Development Manager who ran the race. "Several of our runners seemed to have a rough day, but it turned out great. Finishing is the first priority, and everyone got that done."
Next up on OE's agenda is the organizational meeting for the marathon team to begin training for this fall's Chicago Marathon. The meeting is 9:30 a.m. May 28.
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